sullivan began taking guitar lessons at age three. he has studied with brian cass of the overclock orchestra and the toe jam puppet band as well as stan belmarce. the first original song he wrote with chris waters was titled "sing, dance, clap your hands". sullivan first gained national media attention at age six when he appeared on "the ellen degeneres show". sullivan gained more notoriety when buddy guy asked him to come on stage and play during a performance at the zeiterion theater in new bedford, massachusetts, in 2007. quinn has since performed on stage with guy as well as with b.b. king and has played in venues such as the beacon theatre in new york city, the orpheum theatre in boston, and buddy guy’s legends in chicago. in 2008, sullivan appeared on "the oprah winfrey show" and was featured on nbc's "the today show" in july 2009. in 2009, sullivan opened for buddy guy on his east coast tour during the summer, played his own set at the popular summer music festival lollapalooza, as well as the austin city limits festival in october.