Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

I'm Jesse Thorn, it's Bullseye.

My guest Billy Gibbons doesn't need much introduction. He's the guitarist and primary singer

in ZZ Top. You know ZZ Top, right? Of course you know ZZ Top.

At this point ZZ Top are basically literally iconic. Giant Beards, sunglasses, thick bluesy guitar

riffs. Maybe you know them from MTV in the 80s or their records from the 70s or maybe you just know them as

a band. But behind that idea, behind the idea of ZZ Top is something a lot more interesting.

The band ZZ Top. A psych-influenced blues rock band that is still cutting great records

to this day. They have a fascinating story too, one that is covered wonderfully in the

recent documentary ZZ Top, that little old band from Texas. A quick heads up, Billy and

I recorded this interview about a week before we started producing and recording Bullseye

from home. So that's why we sound like I am in the same room as him, complimenting his

outfit. I was in the same room as him, complimenting his outfit because he was dressed head to

toe. Anyway, before we get to the interview, let's play a ZZ Top Classic. Look range.

Billy, give it a welcome to Bullseye. It's great to have you on the show. Bullseye is here.

It is rare. I have to say this Billy. It is rare that somebody comes on this program

so significantly more fitted than I am. So let's talk about for our at-home listener.

I see a pocket square with what looks like a crocheted edge. Correct. What else is going

on here? What have you got on your around your neck? I got to rattle the chain first to

let you know. It's a collection, actually, at the very bottom. And this is what gets

everybody. They said, she was that isn't that a belt buckle? I said, yeah. And I said,

well, is there a significance to it? And I said, well, I collect the mail down on Sense

...