When we moved back to the US, folk music was all the rage. So I traded in my banjo for a guitar.
But in those days - in the mid-'50s, early '60s - there was less than 300 radio stations that were playing country music and a lot of that wasn't full time.
Because music is a language unto itself, when I'm writing, I need silence. I need to hear the music and the rhythms of the words inside my thoughts.
So many schools have cut the music classes out of their curriculum. We're trying to fill that gap by teaching the teachers how to educate the kids about their musical heritage.
I am lucky to live in Austin, so I can enjoy the live music.
I loved 'Fantasia' as a kid because it filled me with wonder, enchantment and awe. It was my first real introduction into classical music. It was totally inspiring to me.
I kind of date my musical discovery back to when I was 13 years old, getting my iTunes account and using that as a major tool to discover new music.
I never got into sports at all until I was in my early 20s, after my music career got going.
To most white people, jazz means black and jazz means dirt, and that's not what I play. I play black classical music.
The idea of a streaming service, like Netflix for music, I'm not totally against it. It's just we won't put all of our music on it until there are enough subscribers for it to make sense.
I was not born into the world of the stuntman and the daredevil; I was born into the world of theater and writing and sculpting and classical music.
It's all about music, because music is basically what's... been my avenue out of maybe being involved in things I shouldn't be.
Pop music was supposed to be a flash in the pan, but here we are 50 years later and it means something to us, and it always will do. It's incredibly important.
I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.
I try to give to my music the spiritual quality, very deep in the soul, which does something even if you are not realizing it or analyzing it - that's the duty of the music.
When I hear bluegrass today, I hear so many new sounds in it. It's almost like country music in a way.
Many cities make music, but no city breathes music quite like Memphis. The songs and sounds that come from here are uniquely American.
Music - not just the lyrics, but the music itself - expresses confused or illicit passions: rage, lust, envy, frustration, channeling these energies and creating an outlet for them.
You start to accumulate your library of music. You want that music everywhere - that's the point where we monetize. If you want portability, mobility, and access, then you buy it.
I don't mind putting my heart out there for the audience, and for the country music fans... to be vulnerable with them... that's my job as an artist.
Explicit material is available in a variety of forums - from popular music to television to the Internet.
