J. J. Cale Quotes

I'm a late bloomer in music.

I was a singer professionally when I was four years old, and I did not really begin to play any instrument - the first one, of course, was drums - till I was about nine years old.

I never even held a guitar until I was 23 and living in California, but then loved it. I'm really not an accomplished instrumentalist. Maybe that has something to do with why I write and sing.

My only ambition is to grow as a musician.

I started out when I was about 12, playing drums. I started singing when I was about 15.

I didn't start playing music really until I was 18/19, so it was a relatively new thing. I didn't play much music in school.

I want to pursue music in the future, but I'm taking it a step at a time and making sure I'm constantly growing.

Rock stardom and all that stuff like that was never like my main M.O., my main M.O. is musical growth, and if I become a rock star in the process, great!

I have had some amazing experiences as a musician - even with my modest skills.

I was a late bloomer, but I realised that people really liked it when I played blues scales and, with the piano, I had that insatiable need to prove myself.

There are people who compose from very young. That is not my case. I went discovering myself.

I started music late.

I was a teenager doing teenager things, and now I have the honor of being on tour with musical giants Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull. I'm doing my music and performing in my own concerts! It just goes to show that anything is possible with hard work.

When I began my career, I was constantly referred to as the kid who could play the blues.

Music is, of course, a universal emotional experience, cutting across cultures and languages. I studied piano for ten years as a child and consider that experience one of the most valuable in my life.

You're a constant student, as a musician.

All you can do as an artist is just strive to make the best record you can and ride the rollercoaster as it goes up and down.

When I started out, all I did was play my trombone.

I started being a songwriter pretending I could do it, and it turned out I could.

Music became my focus. At 13, I was jamming with my mates. At 15, I was playing clubs.

People don't understand what music really is. I've been a musician since I was 6 years old. I got my first piano, was playing recitals at 8, 10 I picked up a guitar, 12 I picked up my first Pearl Master drum set. I was an artist before I was an 'artist.'

When I have the time at home, I'll practice three or four hours a day. I have to. And I'm a late starter; I started at age 17 and at age 51 I'm still learning.

I played for anybody and everybody from the time I started playing guitar, when I was 10 or 11.

Nobody in my family was musical. I had no idea you could be a songwriter and make a living at it. It was all discovery. It was all just thrown at me.

I don't like the word 'rock star' or 'super star.' I am a guitar player, a songwriter who got lucky because I stayed at it and didn't give up, long enough that people noticed me.