When my father was, you know, a very big artist in the 1970s and then later up through the '80s. And then I began playing guitar with him in the road in the late '80s until he retired in 1997. So I traveled the world with them for years, you know, and all around the world and got to meet some great people.
I didn't expect to become an artist. I was not comfortable going out on the road.
I've got my whole life. There's a lifetime of experience, a lifetime of experiencing the road and the music and different players. It makes me a richer human being. I have a greater source of information to tap into, a wealth of life.
I believe in 'Hard Livin'.' The song has a lot of potential. I sang it on the road for about a year before I put it on an album. The crowds really seemed to like it.
If you end up spending more time in the studio than you do on the road, that's not a good balance for me. Because I think when you're in the studio, you need to come off the road and go in the studio and that's when you're applying your best. That's when you've got the best attitude, best energy, all that stuff.
Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That's probably something I have learned on the road.
We didn't have that big-label push. We weren't the kind of band that our label Warner Bros. Records was going to throw all this money at. Their idea was to support us on the road and see what happens. It was a very slow building process.
We definitely get respect as far as the musicianship, working hard and being road dogs.
When I used to work the road, I remember I used to ask myself in the mirror, literally, like in a movie, back when I was not very good at all, I'd say, 'What's it like being the greatest comedian in the world?'
For me the road became a zone, in places like Saint Marks poetry Project where I worked for 12 years.
As between mileage and experience choose experience.
Tortoises can tell you more about the road than hares.
I'm not a bad mimic, and I can pick up speech cadences that I would not pick up if I didn't hit the road.
