A Grammy is really nice, but having lots of fans is really nice, too. I think just getting a record out is a success on its own.
We recorded our first CD, Sixteen Stone, with a small budget and never dreamed that we would enjoy such a high success. It was simply fantastic.
Never mind what others do; do better than yourself, beat your own record from day to day, and you are a success.
I just think we shouldn't get into counting coaches' records. I've never been for that... but I know that's just American society.
People ask me to record their answering machines all the time. I love it. It's a miracle to me that people want to hear back those characters.
I listen to archival and historic recordings. I love watching singers. I learned a lot from watching videos.
Composers today get a TV script on Friday and have to record on Tuesday. It's just dreadful to impose on gifted talent and expect decent music under these conditions.
Records are just moments of achievement. They're like receipts for work done. Time goes on and people keep playing music.
I spent a lot of time in Tower Records. I'm a huge music nerd, and Tower was instrumental to me when I was growing up.
Before recording technology existed, you could not separate music from its social context.
I think that most of my romance comes out in my music. And if you look at my track record of three ex-wives, maybe there's something to that.
There's just no telling what I'll do. But I can say for certain I will continue to play, record, and put out music.
It's always very special for me to work Chicago. Both of the record companies I was with, early on, were based in Chicago. The music was always huge there.
Now the music industry is sort of like a Craigslist venture, right? Where you're making your own records and selling them online.
I buy records from all across the board. I get kind of a hybrid of influences in my own music.
I really want to put the emphasis on creating music. I want to cut a record. I want to start going on tour.
I just want to keep making music, recording and trying different things. I don't want to do the same thing all the time.
The fact of the matter is that 40 years ago, unless you bought the record, you couldn't hear the music. It was such a narrow track in comparison to today.
At the beginning, at my shows, there were a lot of press and people from record companies. Now there are people who are there to just listen to the music and are genuine fans.
The music that I wrote and recorded is music that I really enjoy listening to. It's just dumb luck that a lot of other people do, too.
Modern recording has made it so that people can spend forever taking shortcuts and making everything uniform, but that strips music of what makes it exciting.
