Be exceptional. Make tremendous efforts to be extraordinary. What a privilege to be here on the planet to contribute your unique donation to humankind. Just make sure you do so.

I have my songs ready in my head, gather the guys, play it and then let them go with it. [The music] finds its way, we do what the music says to do......the song is the producer.

The world has changed a lot since I started making records.I used to go into a studio and there were songs there, chosen for me to see if I liked them. I wasn't encouraged to write.

I've pretty much run the circle of labels and dealing with that whole kind of battle, because you're the one creating the music, but you're not the final say. That's always been hard.

I never sing a song more than twice because my fear of waning excitement for a piece is part of my troubles. I so rely on vibe, energy and emotions that the technical part occurs to me last.

You know, I just don't believe that art is supposed to make sense. I really don't think it's supposed to be analyzed to death. It's left to the listener or looker to get what they can get from it.

I don’t have a problem baring my emotions in music. That’s one of the reasons I’m glad to have music in my life. I’m pretty resilient as far as being a human being. A lot of songs write themselves.

I wasn't encouraged to write just stand there and sing and I never thought I was a writer. I always figured if I couldn't write something as good as "He Stopped Loving Her Today," then what's the point?

I'm the audience first, and if you're gonna be a great performer, you need to be a great audience. So, I do music for me first, and whoever likes it likes it, and whoever doesn't -- well, it's just not for them.

I feel like records are moments in time, a modern moment that feels right then and it found its way to us then, that minute. We can all try and repeat records we have made that had success, but it's not possible.

That's what I so admired about Johnny Cash and June Carter. Their music wasn't a big influence on me. It was their character, their individual styles, what they were like as people. They weren't afraid to stick out.

A great hang is mandatory. But in all of my years as a traveling musician, on a whole it's been pretty damn magical. There have been a couple duds along the way, but most time, I'm in awe of the guys who want to play on my records.

Ben [Peeler] and I have known each other for a decade. He trusts my crazy ideas and spontaneous combustion and he gets the players I want and knows the kind of personality players I like. He has taste that I trust and that to me is more important than any technical things.

I still believe in the old-school show thing no frills, no fancy equipment just a guitar and some amps and some drums, and throw it out there and do it the best you can in a live sense, because it's easy to make records. But the live show is where you really show if you've got the balls to do it.

There's not anything I can fix, change, make better its out to the world. I'd like to say that I like my records but it's for reasons other than enjoyment, it's more like a notch on my revolver, one more down. I am proud of my work, yes but its accomplishment to me and another year of schooling,in making records it can always be better!

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