I’m proud of the way I rearrange and put things together, like a chef who makes a great meal, or a filmmaker who puts together a story – it’s casting, editing, cinematography.
People come up to me all the time who saw Dad in ‘Oklahoma!’ or ‘Pajama Game,’ and they say they’ll never forget it.
It is still a surprise when people tell me that I’ve had an influence on them, particularly when it’s someone I really respect.
In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.
I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.
Playing guitar was one of my childhood hobbies, and I had played a little at school and at camp. My parents would drag me out to perform for my family, like all parents do, but it was a hobby – nothing more.
I’ve watched my peers get better with age and hoped that would happen with me.
The fifth member of my band is my non-profit work.
I would like to inspire a lot of people to be active and give back.
Finding great songs is the hard part of my gig – it’s not as hard as songwriting, that’s much more daunting – but I love playing other people’s music.
A lot of political music to me can be rather pedantic and corny, and when it’s done right – like Bruce Springsteen or Jackson Browne or great satire from Randy Newman, there’s nothing better.
I hope I’m an integrous person who cleans up their messes when I’ve been a jerk.
With the new ways of getting music out, you don’t need a label if you’re a legacy artist.
There’s something about the Strat’s shape that is at once masculine and feminine.
I’m the same on stage as I am off stage. A lot of people who I admire – Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne – are not that different either. You hope that if you met them that they’d be as nice and well-rounded as they appear.
In 1967 I entered Harvard as a freshman, confident – in the way that only 17-year-olds are – that I could change the world. My major was African Studies, and my plan was to travel to Tanzania, where President Julius Nyerere was creating a government based on democracy and socialism.
The great thing about the arts, and especially popular music, is that it really does cut across genres and races and classes.
One of the things that I’m glad about, though, is that regular people can relate to me.
I can’t make you love me, if you don’t.
I finally learned to accept that I can’t make radio play blues any more than I could get Reagan out of the White House.