I actually have a degree in music and was aware that music was a tool used in therapy. I didn't realize how far it had come since I was in college in the mid-seventies.
My CD collection has a lot of world music - lots of Indian, African, Portuguese, Greek, Italian music. Because of my husband, a lot of jazz, too.
We asserted ourselves as a music community, and showed legislators that music is positive. Especially if you've sold 300 million records worldwide and pay taxes.
Whether it be in acting, music, or even in dancing, I only want to do things that I truly connect to, and with my music, it's everything that I am.
Listening to music is such an uplifting, spiritual thing. It's far-fetched to some - I understand that. But the way dance music brings people together, it's not a big stretch from hymns.
Anytime I shoot a video, I just think of anything I can do to set myself apart from everybody in the music industry.
When I'd tell people I like country music they'd get this look on their faces. People were kind of ashamed of country.
I have been long associated with British music. I have favoured it as my alternate music next to American.
Napster hijacked our music without asking. They never sought our permission. Our catalog of music simply became available as free downloads on the Napster system.
Music makes or breaks an atmosphere. It helps to create the mood and also is a very important aural cue; simply shut off the music when you want people to leave.
Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself.
The way I work on music is that I go into my studio, and I start playing music, and I see what happens, and... I never think about it.
In country music, there are certain female artists, like Gretchen Wilson, where you're going to find lesbians because they're responding to that more aggressive side.
Fleetwood Mac were really accessible musically, but lyrically and emotionally, we weren't so easy. And it was our music that helped us survive. But all of us were in pieces personally.
My ideology was, if I just make very happy music, very happy music, then people will forget about whatever their problems are. I will forget about my problems.
I came into the music world in 1988 with a song called 'Ooh La La,' that was like a breath of fresh air in Haitian music.
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.
