Quotes from Johnny Van Zant

David Allan Coe actually went to jail one time. Some fan cursed Lynyrd Skynyrd, and David Allan Coe kicked his teeth in. He ran and kicked a guy's teeth in for saying something about Lynyrd Skynyrd.

It is a scary world out there, and believe me that if someone were to try to come into my house, I want to be able to protect myself.

Don't sign your publishing away.

Skynyrd is a big family. We have argued, fussed, and fought.

We've done shows with Tim McGraw, Hank Williams Jr., Montgomery Gentry, Shooter Jennings.

Look at Gretchen Wilson. If she came out in the '70s she'd be the queen of Southern rock.

If you're only a fan of the old music, that music's gonna wind up sounding even older.

Our newest member is Johnny Colt, who was bass player with The Black Crowes. Colt fits right in with us. He's loony as heck, and so are we. We have a great time and love doing what we do. I hope Johnny is with us for a long, long time. He is quite the guy.

I saw B.B. King in concert one time where he had this guy that would bring him out a glass of water and towel to wipe his forehead with.

I'm a Republican myself, though I think there are actually some Democrats in Lynyrd Skynyrd.

If nothing else, we grew up loving the old blues artists and Ray Charles.

There's nothing like getting out there playing a great show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.

I'm a lover of old traditional country - George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Marty Roberts.

We have a lot of friends who are hunters. And you know what? Come hunting season, man, they head to the woods, you know. And again, this country was built on God and guns, folks. I mean, it really was.

A lot of groups get dirty deals. They work hard and have to get a job after their career is over.

The fans have always been there for us, and they've realized when we were going through a hard time.

Most of our fans are the hardworking people of the world. They are the people who have made this country great.

Who knows what the heck the future will bring.

I think, hey, everybody has a right to change their mind.

I always try to relate a song to something what is going on, the working man, the times, how life goes.

'Free Bird' is timeless, 'Sweet Home' is timeless. They're just timeless songs.

I think it's just that Skynyrd songs are timeless.

I think people relate to Skynyrd; it's a working class band. They're just songs with messages. To this day, there's never been a song written that didn't have a message.

If people can't relate to something, there's no use of the song being there.