Musician

If folks really want music in their community they can do it very cheaply. It doesn't have to be a $50 million program. All we need is just a little real estate.

Les Paul was my godfather.

Looking at Capitol's performance over a 22-year period, I figure they were focused three years out of the 22 I worked for them.

Dealing with Jazz at Lincoln Center and its board of directors, who are so great, and then seeing how these Rock Hall guys operate, it's like: 'Really?' It seems like they're total amateurs when it comes to doing shows and contracts.

Blues has always been a huge part of my life.

I've been blessed to work with so many wonderful musicians and engineers and friends over the years.

I've demanded respect for myself and my band and my peers, I've demanded full artistic control for my music, I advocate for artists and music education wherever I can. And I'm a nice guy.

The audience wants to hear 'Rock n' Me,' 'Space Cowboy,' 'Living in the U.S.A.' When you start to play something else, you can feel the interest and enthusiasm go; the steam goes out of room. They are really 'Greatest Hits' fans and that's what they want to hear. It's disappointing that it's this way in the U.S.

Giving a record company an album is like giving a gangster your baby or something.

The people at Jazz at Lincoln Center are an amazing group and have done a phenomenal job teaching kids and audiences of all ages about jazz.

Growing up in Dallas, my first influences on the guitar were T-Bone Walker and Les Paul. T-Bone taught me how to play lead guitar behind my head and do the splits in 1951 when I was nine.

When I was a kid this is what I was listening to on my car radio - Lowell Fulsom singing 'Tramp.'

I played American football, but I did my best work with baseball.

Our real business is the people who come to see us play and want to hear us play, so I have a very active career.

I really enjoy working with luthiers, and have a couple of really old Les Pauls and one of my original Strats that I still carry on the road.

I've recorded lots of projects, but just haven't bothered to release them.

There aren't very many clubs. There's no place for people to develop and play.

Very rarely can you bring someone new into a band and have them just fit perfectly, right away.

There aren't that many people that cover my music. It's kind of hard to cover. Everybody always has their own spin. The only guy who didn't, I think, was Seal. It just sounded like a bad version of 'Fly Like an Eagle.'

You have to know what your value is. I started learning my value when I was 12 years old.