A friend of mine, that I had known for some time, came up one day with an old guitar. I don't know where he got it, I don't know how long he'd had it, but he knew about two chords on it. He proceeded to teach them to me, and then we proceeded to go crazy over music. |
Any accolades that anybody puts toward this band really makes me feel good, because I have devoted such a big part of my life to this band, making it what I want it to be. |
Country music has changed tremendously, so what now is considered country was not considered country at that time. We were doing stuff that probably could have been called country music today, but would certainly have not have fit in at that time. |
Every award I've ever received has been very gratifying. The Living Legend Award was extremely gratifying; it was voted on by the fans. It's just great to be remembered after all these years, to still be a viable part of the music business. So, I'm very deeply honored by all the awards. |
I believe you might want to say something. I've never seen you at a loss for words. |
I don't have any real "process." Some people in Nashville go in like an assembly line. They're able to go and write. My son runs a publishing company. He has writers that come down. They get together in a room with the people that actually make appointments, and write - which is great. I can't do that very well. |
I had been on the road for a long time and was not really getting anywhere. Bob Johnston, a friend of mine, had taken over Columbia in Nashville. He asked me if I wanted to come down. I did -- thank God I did. |
I just feel such freedom to do whatever. If a song's seven minutes or ten minutes long, then so be it - it's that long. |
I just thank God I can make a living doing something I enjoy as much as I do playing music. |
I played on three of Bob Dylan's albums. I have very pleasant memories, especially the Nashville Skyline album was a real fun album to do. He was in a great mood. He was glad to be in Nashville, where the musicians were very laid back and very creative. We had a lot of fun doing that album. |
I should be the one to say what I do. It's just not done that way anymore in Nashville, and I can't do it the other way. That's how our record label came about. |
If I come across an issue, or something I feel strongly about, and I happen to think of a song that would go in that direction, then I do it. But that's not what I start out, necessarily, to do. Sometimes I may have an idea for a song - "Well, I'm going to write about a thing." |
If somebody says, "He sounds just like Michael Jackson," well there's already a Michael Jackson. You don't want to sound like Michael Jackson; you want to sound like yourself. The only way you're ever going to get anywhere, and stay there, is by being your own self. |
Make sure to be honest with yourself, about if that's really what you want to do with your life - to make music. It takes a commitment - a tremendous, thick-skinned commitment of being the first one to get there and the last one to leave, doing what you want to do even if you have to work twice as hard as anybody else ever did. |
My next project will be a Christian album, another one. I wrote the songs for the ones you're referring to, but I want to do some of my old gospel favorites. That's what my next album's going to be. |