Quotes from Samuel Ervin Beam

I like to keep working and keep changing. It's a hopeful, optimistic thing to think and sit about what you could do next. Maybe it's blind optimism.

I like having a big band because it gives you more options. They can always not play and I can do the quiet stuff, but when we want to do the big arrangements, we can.

I live in Texas, man. It's hard to be a vegetarian down here.

Sometimes you have to be reminded where you were at the time, and songs are a good vehicle for that. It's so funny how those things are connected with your memory.

I was raised in the suburbs. I wasn't on a plantation or anything.

Every time I play with a new musician I absorb something, even if it's someone you don't like!

I don't really listen to a lot of stuff that sounds real similar to me because I work on that kind of music all day. I end up listening to more jazz, stuff that I can't really play.

I always liked American Analog Set.

I keep trying to make different records each time.

As a listener, I like shorter records, because you can really absorb the songs.