Quotes from Tommy Shaw

It is all about being open and paying attention to the music in your head. I think most people have original music playing in their heads from time to time.

When a song gets its legs and begins to come to me, this is the euphoric hook that keeps me wanting to continue.

If I have an idea, I write it down, although I usually carry a little dictation machine with me because I'm too lazy to write.

I was born in Alabama and my first live music experiences were in church. Every Sunday we watched regional gospel groups on television singing their hearts out

We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure out the originals

If music became extinct now, I dont know what Id be good for.

Songwriting is the other weight on the opposite side of the scale from touring. They balance me out creatively.

On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me.

Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.

I've always stuck with Gibsons. I've had Guilds and Fenders, too, but I always wind up going back to Gibsons.

You can have fun, but you also have to put on your thinking cap every day.

It was more fun trying to figure out I Want To Hold Your Hand than to take lessons. By this time I knew basic chords

I feel like I have the greatest life an artist could dream of.

Les Pauls work out real well for me because I'll beat the hell out of them and they'll still work. The only trouble with them is finding good ones.

As a solo artist, I just felt cemented in front of the mike stand. There was very little time to play with the audience and be a band member

By the time I did that third solo album, I'd finally learned how to do it, but I'd also learned that I liked being in a band

Around '75 when the recession hit, club owners started going to disco because it was cheaper for them to just buy a sound system than it was to hire a band.

I love the idea of stepping out of the band situation into a solo world with no boundaries, no expectations, where nothing is out of bounds.

I like being on the road, living in hotels. While I've got a real nice house, I go crazy when I'm there.

I wish I had a nickel for every song that I've left in the bathroom, written down on a matchbox, or just totally forgotten about.

I don't write on tour. There is so much to do day in and day out when you are on the road.

There were some older guitarists on my side of town, and I got to know many of them.

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.

Make sure you know what you are signing when you sign a recording contract.