Art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow men beyond the bounds of our personal lot.
The thing I find frustrating about rock music is, how different can you make an acoustic drum kit sound, an electric guitar and vocals?
I just go out there and be myself and turn up the voltage a little bit for entertainment value.
Very few guitarists play nylon-string. They don't know how to get the sound out of them. That's something I've spent a lot of time on.
If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
I try to become a singer. The guitar has always been abused with distortion units and funny sorts of effects, but when you don't do that and just let the genuine sound come through, there's a whole magic there.
I like having big hooks and big records and sing-a-longs.
Doing the acoustic at Carnegie is basically advised because electric music tends to get, let's just say, acoustically unsound.
I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified.
The electric guitar was a big step for me, but I didn't spend a lot of time trying to adjust. It wasn't like, 'Hey, little lady, come strap on this here big guitar.' We took it in steps as much as possible.
The way I see it, any attention I get, for whatever reason, just draws more eyes to the causes that I believe in.
Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.
I do the protest stuff. I do country and western. I play both acoustic and electric guitar in a lot of different styles, from loud, psychedelic stuff to quiet finger-picking.
The guitar can go at a scream. It can yell at you.
I like to sing around the bonfire, in my car and in the shower.
Rock music is electronic music, dependent entirely on electronic circuitry and amplification.
In fact, I had to make an enormous adjustment to this, not only in listening to it but in playing with it. It's a full sound. In some instances, you must have the volume to get the effect.
Words are powerful. The tongue is powerful. And when you write it down, and record it, and press it up, it's 100 million times more powerful. It's important to utilize our tongue to help people.
Exaggeration is a branch of lying.
At the end of the day, what I have is the power to give a louder voice to people who have issues, questions and problems.
The bigger the better; in everything.
There is always strength in numbers. The more individuals or organizations that you can rally to your cause, the better.
Now is a time where social media allows people to be heard on a different level. Everyone is using their voice.
Distortion pedals are just fantastic for not only rehearsing quietly but also for all those moments when you are going to play in highly compressed environments like radio, television, or recording against compressed loops.
Pete Townshend is one of my greatest influences. More than any other guitarist, he taught me how to play rhythm guitar and demonstrated its importance, particularly in a three-piece band.
