Tommy Bolin Quotes

I think the best riffs and the best songs come when you're jamming and having a good time.

When we first started playing we did a lot of rehearsing. We used to write out everything. In fact, that's the way everybody rehearses: we play the tunes and improvise.

But the classic Tenacious D songwriting is Jack or myself will have an idea - I might have a riff - and we'll improv. And once Jack's feeling it, we turn on the tape recorder and start jamming, improv on that riff, improv on those lyrics, and then go back and see if there's anything good in there.

For me, it's more about the musicianship - focusing on the guitar, playing with my band, rather than just going out and doing what anyone my age can do with backup dancers and a track.

Some of my biggest moments have been in jam sessions, but I don't want to talk about them. There were always other people involved.

With Sleater-Kinney, we did a lot of improvisation in our live shows, and even our process of songwriting involved bringing in disparate parts and putting them together to form something cohesive.

I don't know about the time those songs were written. But he was jamming with someone in Colorado or San Francisco, and I'm sure he was working on the lyrics right up to the show because they were really relevant for the situation.

I like people that can strap on a guitar and don't sweat the fact that you have to come up with a song in an hour. I want to work with someone who won't feel like they have to play along with Jason Molina. I want them to just have the confidence.

When we first started playing in the early days, none of us really had any idea about writing our own songs yet. We were struggling how to learn our instruments and play songs to be able to perform for people.

For some artists the live performance is the chicken before the egg of writing or recording of repertoire. For other artists the writing or recording of repertoire is the chicken before the egg of live performance.

I'm just really happy, because I think we're a great band, and I really like great bands.

I just start playing music and eventually I sing something, a line of a verse or a B section or a line of a chorus, and the line that I end up singing is related to the music I'm playing, if that makes any sense. And I go from there.

The best sketch shows are from a group of tight-knit people who've worked together for a really long time.

Whenever I meet someone who's talented, I always want to write something for them!

I enjoy songwriting. It's slow-motion improvising.

As an improviser I'm now pretty comfortable with trios, so I'm thinking of working up to quartets.

When I write the set, I try to create something that will not only be interesting for the audience, but will have a flow for the band, too, so we don't get boring.

I'm a keen musician. Me and my mates have a great times jamming and recording stuff. We have a great band behind us and have turned my nursery-rhyme songs into quite credible pieces of music.

I really want to write a novel. I also want to learn to play the mandolin.

I'm a dramatist, so I really always wrote and directed at the same time because when I wrote something, I always put it on its feet. So I'm in love with actors; I always loved actors.

I guess actually playing on the records and touring is a great forced practice regimen for me. And you learn a lot playing with people.

Making music and writing kind of come from the same creative place.

If you want me to work with you, then come with an idea. Come with music.

The best way for me to teach myself an instrument is to just jam on it, and sound awful sometimes, and sound great other times.

Wu-Tang has only done, like, three rehearsals throughout our whole career.