Musical Reputation Quotes

We heard later through the grapevine that we were being compared to the Furious 5, and because of that we were getting feedback that they were saying that we werent all that, that we were copying them... blah blah blah.

When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.

When people come to the show they think we are a legendary band because they hear us on Classic Rock radio all the time. It is psychological. That's okay - I'm down with that.

I worked extremely hard at my craft and at being a good songwriter, being a good guitar player, being a good organist, because I didn't think people would take me seriously.

I feel like I've established myself as a music maker in my own right.

I think about legacy a lot, hopefully at the end of the day they say I was a good bluesman. That's all I want.

I want to be a diva... like people-totally-respect-my-music diva, not diva like carry-my-diet-Coke-around.

I'm well known because I do music at a professional level, and a certain magnitude.

I hope at some point in my career when my name is mentioned, someone will say "Oh yeah he has a good song!" I'd be happy with that.

I gathered that those two Big-shot Boys, Joe + Fletcher, just was afraid to let me sing, thinking maybe I'd sort of ruin their reputations with their musical public. They not knowing that I had been singing all of my life. In churches, etc. I had one of the finest All Boys Quartets that ever walked the streets of New Orleans.

I wasn't getting any work as a songwriter in Texas because I was only known as a fiddle player.

You get tarred with the brush of 'Lady in Red.' I play Russia or China or places all over the world. They don't even speak English but they know the words. You get a big song like that, and people love it or hate it. And if they don't like it, they don't like anything at all by the artist.

When you become a television personality, it's difficult to maintain your musical credibility.

For some reason, as a kid, I felt outwardly embarrassed to say that I liked rock music. I don't know where that came from. For me, it just wasn't cool - orchestral music was cool.

Even Stravinsky does not evoke the same public affection as Verdi.

Over thirty-plus years, a certain myth has grown up around the band. And the last thing I ever wanted to do was put us on a stage somewhere, in less than the best circumstances, and pop the bubble, have the fans come in and say, 'Gee, they weren't that good.' It's your responsibility to give them something to be excited about.

I didn't say I wasn't gonna do rockabilly. I just said I ain't gonna sing no song that ain't a country song. I won't be known as anything but a country singer.

I feel like my music has a reputation for being pretty serious or whatnot, but I like having fun.

Everywhere in the world, music enhances a hall, with one exception: Carnegie Hall enhances the music.

I don't want to be typecast as the 'ambient guy' or someone who only does electronic scores. I think most of the work that comes my way is because people feel they know me musically.

I find respect for a mediocre British composer, as opposed to a really good American, ridiculous because they automatically respect a composer if he's from England.

In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.

It takes lot of years for a composer to make a name.

I wanted to be known as a better musician more than anything.

I guess, at the end of the day, I want to be viewed as a musician.