I love playing the CMA Music Festival each year because it's one of the very best audiences you could hope for. It's one of the places you can perform where you know everyone there is a big Country Music fan.

I don't think you ever write a song with any intention except the song's about such and such per say ... we've never written a song and thought 'oh it'd be great if in this part this happened in the audience'.

I think it's so important to have a practice, because the consciousness isn't perfection or enlightenment or any of that bullshit. The consciousness is, "Oh, I'm walking down the street and I'm doing nothing."

It was very important for me to touch on things that haven't changed, like schools. I'm in Cleveland, Ohio. My lady's from Ohio, and the schools are being torn down, and they turned them into high-rise condos.

People who have known a person for many days but could never spot or appreciate his hidden talent in the first place, are likely to raise their suspicions on seeing him ever winning laurels in the life's race.

I sing to the realists, people who accept it like it is. I express problems. There are tears when it's sad and smiles when it's happy. It seems simple to me, but for some people, I guess feelin' takes courage.

'A Bug's Life' is a really funny movie and the characters have such different personalities. The movie is happy and then gets really sad and I'm like, W'hoa, I'm feeling this way and this movie is about bugs!'

I've been going through a lot of... stuff. I need some space, which people were very kind enough to give me, and I feel really gracious about that. Nobody forces me to do things or say things or do interviews.

The music industry has changed drastically and that damages young artists. They don't have the same support system that we had. They wanted us to be happy. Today I would have been dropped after the first flop.

One of the coolest things to me about going to a show is you look over, and the guy next to you is sitting there drinking a beer and he's wearing a Donkeys t-shirt. And you're like, "Dude, I love The Donkeys."

My father worked hard, but we were still very poor; and I didn't want anybody arguing about money, so I became the entertainer - the one who wanted everyone to be happy. I didn't want there to be any problems.

We lived on the farm, and our mode of transportation was wagon and team. No electricity. I'm the seventh son of 12 kids - eight boys and four girls. Mom and Dad handled that very well. But I wanted to get out.

I definitely I prefer to sing in the car. I don't sing in the shower, maybe its because that's the one time I don't need to talk to anyone so I should just shut up, otherwise I'm just, you know, jibber jabber.

If you believe in justice, if you believe in democracy, if you believe in people's rights, if you believe in the harmony of all humankind - then you have no choice but to back Fidel Castro as long as it takes!

The Corcoran show was actually almost a reportage. The exhibit was, in many ways, pretty unique. It was one of the first pieces about DC culture that doesn't include some marble building or the Kennedy Center.

Nike Air Max 95's - I wear them almost every day. They're super comfortable. I get a lot of gifts, so I don't really need to shop. But if I had to choose my favourite brand, it would be Nike. Nike is the best.

I didn't have any expectations of what my family life would end up being like. But I've been very blessed in my life to have a wife who loves me and supports me and is able to be in my band and travel with me.

I feel like every five to seven years I really need to put myself in this position of discomfort and exploration, just to survive. Otherwise I feel like I'm falling asleep, like I'll go crazy if I don't do it.

I'm trying to learn, as I'm in my 40s, to embrace what I've been able to achieve and be proud of it. And I know there's roles that I will want to play before I die, but I'm still just taking one day at a time.

If we work on it, we can absolutely refuse any notion that suggests that after generations of contributing to this country, being a part of the bones and the marrow, that I'm supposed to be uncomfortable here.

I just think, you know what, some of the most astute fans I know are film geeks, film lovers, and watchers, and I am now proud to be one of them. So I am, hopefully, going to be accepted into the club of geek!

It seems as though I've always been,somebody outside looking in,well, here I am for all of them to bleed,but they can't take my heart from me,and they can't bring me to my knees,they'll never know the real me.

There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the make the first move - and he, in turn, waits for you.

The Devil is a liar. He cannot win. And that's all we're seeing is a bunch of devils [Donald Trump]. So we have to pray and just look out for one another. Keep your chest out, stick your head up and walk tall.

Activism is a very admirable way to create change, but it has to go hand in hand with personal contact with the people with whom we have opposing points of view; without that, there will never be any movement.

So, we went from being an Athens band to being a Georgia band to being a Southern band to being an American band from the East Coast to being an American band and now we're kind of an international phenomenon.

I get to play with pop music and mix up the style. It's fun to play with party music and nice to get into the club. My big love is songwriting. I write the lyrics and the vocals, and I work with the producers.

I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.

All the arts, music, the visual arts, acting and dancing arts, cooking arts, and I believe sports, will save the human race because they can leap over barriers, religions, leap over barriers of race, politics.

I just want to make everybody feel what I'm singing. And just to relate to me and know that this has been dream since I was a little girl. I've worked so hard for this, and I just want them to connect with me.

It's part of the calling to at least do a few songs in the show that give people some hope. There's so much hurt in this world and... music is such a great healing balm and a great way to forget your troubles.

Barbara and I wanted to do a television special, and she put it together with T Bone Burnett, and they came up with the idea of it being black and white. It was fabulous; we had a great time. It was wonderful.

Composers now just don't have the depth of inspiration for melody. Most of the lyrics of the pop songs you hear today are repetitious. They're almost nursery rhymes, as if written by children - which they are.

It's about being patient and working hard. People try to put the money before the work. You can't do that. You have to trust in God, trust in your feelings and the love of the music. Everything else will come.

I just got in music because it was a hobby. I got into clubs for free, got to drink for free and left with the hottest girl from the night. I never dreamed it would be for me to go on this kind of ride at all.

People know who you are when you've never met them. For them, through interviews and seeing you perform, they feel like they know you and you've never seen them before. It's really different, but it's awesome.

I think I've gotten a pretty fair shake in the music press over the years. The only think that kind of irks me is when people assume that I must be really depressed person because they find my songs to be sad.

My singing wasn't horrible, but my dancing really made it look silly. It's not like I'm a horrible singer that can't sing. But I don't have the consistency or the presentation skills that a good performer has.

Education helps you to be a well-rounded person, period. It teaches you how to take in information and data, process it, and use it for life building. Education was key in my family. You were going to college.

I came along with that crowd of singer-songwriters who were able to make their own statements in such a personal way that it changed the industry: Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone.

If you're not smiling at yourself in the mirror, you probably need to check that the life you're building is aligned to the life you dreamed for yourself. And if you're not dreaming, you need to start dreaming.

There's no certainty to the next couple of years, but people are paying attention now. And I want to put out a record when people are paying attention, because that's when it has the best chance of being heard.

My parents were into The Mills Brothers, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Sarah Vaughn, and all those people sung the most wonderful songs - and even when I got into rock 'n' roll, that stayed with me.

Baseball was popular in the summer, but hockey was big most of the time. With five brothers, you never escaped it. We had an indoor rink in our town, and all the boys would play on it right through high school.

One minute we can be in a small club, the next minute we can be in a coliseum, and the next minute we can be in a small auditorium. It varies, depending on the promoter, the budget, and the travelling distance.

Jesus isn't lettin' you off the hook. The Scriptures don't let you off the hook so easily... When people say, you know, 'Good teacher', 'Prophet', 'Really nice guy' ... this is not how Jesus thought of Himself.

I've always said it's easier for bands to make a hard stance - like, we don't do commercials or whatever, blah blah blah - when you've sold billions of records. It's super-easy to be righteous when you're rich.

I've always been a rebel and it's got me in trouble sometimes, and probably kept me poor. And then again, maybe not, because I might not have the two daughters that I have, you know. And we're all so close now.

I've got lots of great friends in show business, and that's all they are. Great friends. I'll never marry again - what's the point? I had the best. I've got friends all over the world, and that's enough for me.

The thrill of hearing your own voice recorded is still there, I still love it, going into the studio and thinking how can I sing this song and between the producers and the musicians you find a way of doing it.

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