Quotes About Music

The biggest thing that I hope people take away when they listen to my music is that they feel that there is an outlet being presented that allows them to be more authentic and for them to be more honest in their own lives.

I love what I do. I love the music, and I'm honored to be presented with a star by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

I especially enjoyed some of the old hairstyles, with my hair down to my shoulders and a beard. And Henley's nickname used to be 'Furry Basketball' because he had that fro. It was fun to just look at what was going on in that era and how we presented ourselves on stage.

As a teenager, I remember Missy Elliot: seeing how she carried herself, made her music, and presented herself as an artist. That strength inspired me. If my work can do the same for others, I feel very grateful and proud of that.

On my gravestone, I want 'Here lies the singer,' not 'Here lies the T.V. presenter'.

With music, you're really showing someone a piece of your soul. You're saying, 'This is mine. I wrote this, I made this, I'm performing this. This is how I'm presenting it to you.' There's something really scary about that, but there's also something next-worldly about it, too.

I think that anybody can go home, put the record on, and listen to it note for note, but there's very little entertainment value in that, I believe. When you give people something visually entertaining to watch along with presenting the music, I feel it makes it a lot more interesting.

Presenting the American songbook as a living, breathing entity that's expanding all the time is very important.

I have no choice in what direction my music goes, honestly, as all I get is what I'm given. I start writing the songs, and they start presenting themselves the way they want to be heard.

It's not like we set out to antagonize the audience in any way. We're just presenting our music; it's really much more innocent.

Classical music presents some of the world's most challenging pieces.

At our house, we'd always open presents with our Christmas records playing. 'Little Drummer Boy' was one of my favorites when I was a kid because it was about a kid.

From the food to the Mardi Gras Indians to the brass bands and the second liners parading through the street, Jazz Fest presents New Orleans in one place.

I don't want to be an artist; I don't really want to sing - though I do sing on a few songs. But I want to be the guy that presents new music from both new artists and established artists at the same time.

Preservation Hall is the sound of joy. When they start playing, people start moving.

I think the preservation of orchestras and what they do is worth expending all the ways there are to reach out to people who might not otherwise go.

I think there's probably really wonderful music that has been lost due to the lack of preservation methods way back in the day.

You want the personality of each performer - whether it's singing or bass or drums or piano - to be intact. In some ways it's much more challenging to preserve that and to also make music that sounds modern.

Everything I do is in a New York state of mind. I'm indebted to preserving the sound of the city.

I need music. It's like my heartbeat, so to speak. It keeps me going no matter what's going on - bad games, press, whatever!

I think it's important to really press on with the song writing and just go with it. There's no code, there's no craft... it's just let yourself shine through your music. If it's meant to be loved and heard, it'll happen.

I've never got on with the British press because they've always given me such a hard time. Once they build a band up they just want to do people down. They shouldn't concentrate on the colour of someone's shirt they should listen to the music.

Opera is given so little attention in the national press.

I joke to people in the press that I realize I'm not black, I'm actually white. But I've got these roots in black American music. I love it.