Jerry Jeff Walker Quotes

I think the key to making records generally is to make 'em for yourself, regardless of the climate in the business.

I've never... when I was having songs on the airwaves, and that sort of thing, I never felt a sense of pressure anywhere except from myself, to do things the way I wanted to do them; to feel authentic; to feel like I was presenting my true self to the world.

I don't have to compete in the charts. I can just be myself as a musician, a songwriter and play with the musicians that I really love.

It's not that some songs are for radio and some songs aren't, I'm just making whatever I feel.

As a performer, the thing you want the most is to be your authentic self.

I've never conformed to what my record label has said and, yes, that has meant that it's been a long journey for me.

I want to create music that moves me, not just music that is going to get me famous or make someone at a label happy.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

I want to make music that I like; not something that I have to make because I think it's going to sell.

Any band that is out there chasing it is doing more destruction to music then someone who is out there playing what they truly feel.

The fun thing about song writing is that it's just creative. It can be whatever you want it to be. For me, I'm really protective of that. I'm not going to write something because I feel like it fits here or it fits there - I just want to write music that feels good to me, you know?

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

I like to make the music that I really love. You're supposed to make your favorite music that no one else played, and I'd like to just keep it at that and not really change it at all.

I'm American. I'm eclectic. I'm going to follow my musical passions. And if people don't like it, and it hurts my legacy, I'm not going to worry about that.

The painter must give a completely free rein to any feeling or sensations he may have and reject nothing to which he is naturally drawn.

I always tell students that writing a poem and publishing it are two quite separate things, and you should write what you have to write, and if you're afraid it's going to upset someone, don't publish it.

I only write music for myself, I don't try and appeal to anyone else.

My music is going to be true. I'm not out to sell records. I'm experiencing something, and it's what I feel.

I have nothing to hide in art. The initial force alone can bring anyone to the end he must attain.

If people go into music with the idea of competing with other artists, then they're doing it for all the wrong reasons.

When you're an artist, you can't write with the intent of affecting anyone.

I suppose we'll make money off our album and our singles and stuff, but, like, they were made as we wanted them, exactly with what we had to say, and done exactly how we wanted them, right? And, like, we didn't put them out to make money. We put them out because we wanted to do them, do you know what I mean?

I just write the way I feel, and if it feels good to me, hopefully everybody likes it.

I was never your average artist, happy to do whatever the record company told me.

When I write a song with somebody else in mind, it's putting the cart before the horse. The way I write best is when I allow the song to tell me what it wants to be.