Quotes from David Berman

I have this Martin electric/acoustic that's made of black formica. Really cool.

I can't imagine putting my name on a t-shirt. For someone to wear my name? Me? It's ridiculous.

I am not only neither Christian nor Jewish, but said to be in between, and I feel the same way about being from the South and being from the North. I write with my left hand but I throw a ball with my right hand.

Some nights I'm funny with the between-song commentary, some nights I'm not. I have no control over this. I pace the stage a lot and struggle with the mic stand in a ridiculous way.

Sometimes I turn the TV just below where you can hear it and write down what I think they might be saying by the mumbles and rhythms.

A lot of the Jews I met in Israel, almost all of them are secular. They get turned off by their religion, in the same way that Americans get turned off Christianity by people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson.

In the beginning, because of the Pavement thing, we were able to sell a certain amount of records. We were able to sell not such a great amount of records, but enough to live on. So there was no incentive to do what didn't come naturally.

My only advice would be to someone right now, is if you're in a position in your life where you need to make a change, this is the best time.

Bobby Braddock is great.

I imagine that I'm less famous than the 15th ranked bowler in the world.

I grew up the son of a businessman. And I didn't get into music to be a businessman.

I read Henry Miller's 'Nexus,' 'Sexus' and 'Plexus' the summer after I graduated from college. It cemented my decision to spurn any and all careers.

It frustrated me at college that all the acts in the Top 10 were like The Moody Blues and Phil Collins. It was like why did we get stuck with the last generation's music, why can't we have our own?

I used to consider myself weak.

Lyrically, country music is the most satisfying music for me.

I was not born to be the center of attention in a crowded room.

The greatest thing about Nashville is that it's welcoming.

I made records for 20 years, I lived off it. But people would say I made so many mistakes, I did so many things you're not supposed to do. I had a band name nobody could say. I didn't play live. I never practiced, I never got better at my instrument.

My great grandfather was the last practicing Jew in my family. He died in 1982.

Pragmatism and romance are sort of opposites.

My father is a despicable man.

Mostly i write on an unplugged Mustang or a Baby Taylor.

I've had to stop going to the nearest grocery store that seems to play Shania Twain's 'Forever and For Always' whenever I'm there. It's hard to shop for frozen entrees through cold-air blasted tears. Feels good on a flushed face though.

I don't have religion or culture. I don't have anything I can believe in when I'm really scared. When I play the songs, I feel the fear disappear.