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I was always trying to write standards, songs that anybody can sing. I figured that's where the money was.
When you play with another piano player, it's just second nature to play the parts that need to be played.
Once I graduated that's when I grew my 'infamous' beard. I trim it every once in awhile but that's about it.
I've avoided the press and a lot of stuff that would have made me more visible just because it's not my style.
My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when i was knocked down.
Parent's job = Prepare the child for the world. Parent of autistic child's job = Prepare the world for the child.
Never ask for someone's thoughts on autism unless you are prepared to hear a story that doesn't resemble your own.
My whole family was very supportive of my choice in a career. I started playing music when I was about 6 years old.
For years and years, I would sit in my studio, and I wouldn't have any inspiration. I'd write one or two songs a year.
While fighting for acceptance, we must remember that our own self worth is not determined by whether or not we get it.
I'm not as aware of categories in music as some people are. To me it's just music. I'm interested in all kinds of music.
I like that old style of country music - it seems to me that a lot of the modern country music is rehashed rock n' roll.
Autism, like a rainbow, has a bright side and a dark side and even though it can mean rough weather, it can be beautiful!
The Pentecostals had horns, drums, guitars, huge choirs, and screaming and dancing and all kinds of stuff. That was for me.
Songwriting was very tough for me... I would go in and sit and hope for inspiration to come, and it was rarely forthcoming.
If you can't see the gift in having a child with autism, you're focusing too much on the autism and not enough on the child.
There was a period in my life when I was trying to write standards: songs that everybody recorded. I did a pretty good run of it.
Watching yourself on film, if you've never watched yourself on film before, you want to go crawl into bed and stay there for a week.
For years, when I was popular, I would face the blank page to write, and I couldn't think of anything that I thought was good enough.
Words have been the most difficult thing for me. Melodies have been the easiest for me; I have more than enough melodies to go around.
Yes some people say ignorant things about autism but silencing them solves nothing. They need to be educated. That's how things change.
Having a child with Autism can mess with your head: You feel like you can move mountains for them yet you're powerless at the same time.
If a person calls themself 'autistic' and you tell them they have to use 'person first language'... you're not putting the person first.
I studied classical music for a long time, maybe 10 years, and I realized finally I was never going to have the hands to play that stuff.
One of the hardest things for a person with autism to do is believe in themselves. But autistics have every right to be as proud as anyone.
All the time I had my success, I didn't know what I was doing. I struggled and struggled and hacked things out without any insight as to why.
I got this book called 'How to Write the Popular Song.' I read that and went through all the things they suggested, and I learned how to do it.
When I was born, I had a birth injury in my second and third vertebrae. It gave me what they called spastic paralysis, which is actually cerebral palsy.
All my writing takes place during the recording of the master tapes. I never do have songs when I start up an album. I actually write them while I record.
It's like, baseball is a very good game, but it's very difficult to explain to somebody, if you stop and think about it. I just feel my life is like that.
Sometimes one misses the sign posts as you're going down the road. They aren't as obvious as they become when you get to the end of the road, so to speak.
Great stories, well written and heartfelt. Prisoner of SouthernRock is an engaging and entertaining celebration of southern music, musicians and characters.
I think probably my main advice to new artists is if you want to be in the music business, you need to be dang serious about it because it's a rough business.
I'm happy to have a job. I play a little, write a little, perform some. It's not like it's an engineered, well-manufactured plan or anything. I just do what I do.
My feet are giving out on me. But I have a wheelchair that folds out on my tour bus. I've also got this little tricycle, so if I want to go someplace, I get those out.
Oklahoma was a dry state, and consequently, there was no liquor laws. And I was able to take advantage of that by playing in nightclubs at the age of 14. It was real handy.
I have damaged nerve endings on the right side, so my piano style comes from designing stuff I can play with my right hand. And some of it effectively mimics classical stuff.
For a couple of years, I'd work from 6 to 11 P.M., then 1 to 5 A.M., and then got up and tried to go to school. That was pretty rough, but I got a lot of experience playing music.
Ohhhso hard to say, but George Harrison was pretty darn special. Such a great guybeautiful person and amazing songwriter/musician. A real honor for me to have played on his last tour
The doctor who pulled me out at birth damaged my second and third vertebrae. But without those tugs, I probably would have been a regular guy selling insurance in Texas or something.
I was raised in the Methodist Church, which is a very Germanic, military kind of music they have there. I heard this other music on the radio: Pentecostal. That was right up my street.
One feature film that I am most proud of is Forrest Gump which starred Tom Hanks. Once you are called out to work in film, yes it is a small industry and your name gets around pretty fast.
I often haven't heard the music since I've recorded it. I don't listen to it. When I do hear it, like at someone's house, I'll listen. I'm probably the most pleased with the stuff I did with New Grass Revival.
I'm not so much of a person for causes, unless I specifically - for instance, if it's my cause, or some poor people's, I'll try to help. But you won't find me playing for any peace candidates - or any candidates.
I had two parts of my body: my left side, which was strong and somewhat dumb, and the other side was weak and hard to control but perhaps smarter. It gave me a very strong sense of the duality of the plane that we live in.
I grew up in Southern California and there is a deep car culture there. I am now down to one car. It is a 1923 T pick up with 1000 hp. I have had a number of cars but little time and space so I have liquidated most of them.
My chops have always been sort of weak, because the right side of my body was paralyzed a little bit. It was very limiting. I have to design stuff I can play, and it took me a year and a half to figure out how to hold a guitar pick.
I was playing with George Harrison one time, and George loves takes. This song was up to Take 160. I said, 'George, do you want me to play the same thing or 160 different things?' It drove me crazy because, in general, I'm ready to play my part.
When I was in grade school, I had a little duet act with a guy who was a beautiful singer, and somebody recorded it on a wire machine. They played it back for us, and I went, 'I hear Donald, but what is that other ugly voice?' It turned out to be me, of course.
If everybody'd agree to quit using money, I'd be happy to play for free every day for awhile. But I don't play benefits or any kind of fund-raisers. I prefer to play at hospitals, for people who otherwise can't see us. But I can't see playing for causes, whatever the cause may be.