Quotes from Rickey Medlocke

My dad was a musician, played on the road and played all of his life. And I grew up in a musical family. I heard it all. I mean, I got accustomed to listening to Roy Acuff and all the old guys. It was really cool for me growing up in a family like that.

The fans mean an awful lot to us. They keep us going.

As long as the fans keep comin' out, we're gonna keep making records and keep being there.

Politics are the same old thing. We elect people, we put them in office, and guess what they do? They sell us out. They sell us down the river, and we pay for it.

I started playing guitar when I was, like, 5, and I picked up playing drums when I was 6 years old.

I was one of the original drummers. What everyone likes to do is think of Lynyrd Skynyrd as the band that picked up again in '73. But I was one of the original members, and I was a big part of that.

There are only seven chords, and I believe every song has already been written.

I don't want to use my platform to speak out against anybody. I'm a rock and roller. I play music for a living.

It's funny: here I am, a guy who plays in one of the world's biggest classic-rock bands, and to tell you the truth, I listen to classic rock the least.

I got nothing against Barack Obama; I just might not like some of his policies and the people he surrounds himself with.

You can be hip-hop to the max, but you still know 'Sweet Home Alabama.'

We just try to write about things that are close to our hearts. We don't sit around trying to write another 'Free Bird' or 'Sweet Home Alabama.'

It's exciting and refreshing to listen to new rock. And I like a lot of it - Filter, Vertical Horizon, Stabbing Westward... I even enjoy some Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock.

Country has just crossed so many lines now, that Skynyrd falls right into that category.

I gotta tell you, Rickey Medlocke lived in some of the most magical years in this world's history. I lived in the '60s. I lived in the '70s, right into the '80s, and man, it was bad to the bone.

We've always been hardcore rebels.

Recording should be fun.

I've got a few great old Marshalls that I use live: '71 and '72 heads and an old combo with 2x12s.

We were working 'Good Teacher' up, and it became apparent to me that, as we were playing it, the song had a Hendrix, 'Crosstown Traffic' vibe and feel to it.

You've just gotta go in and write from the heart and write the best material that you can and put it out. If one hits, hey, great. It keeps the legacy going. But you've gotta keep doing new material. It's the future of any band.

We're a blue-collar band. That's how we like to think of ourselves. We come from humble beginnings and still have this attitude of really loving to meet people, shake their hands, and talk with them.

Music is a healing tool.

As a young man growing up in that era, I was very influenced by Hendrix and took to a wah wah, and I learned how to really use one effectively as Hendrix did.

Michael Jordan was like basketball Jesus.