The power of live music is vast. Live music is a wonderful way to spend some time.
It seems like if they'd given Bob Dylan a pen and paper in the cradle that he would've come up with a great song. I'd love to write songs like that.
I'm always excited about music, but having spent so much time in its pursuit - well, my musical life is complicated.
New York will make you feel small. I think that's good. At least, it's good for me.
Great music is the only genre that actually matters, and the members of that club are far more similar to each other than they are to any genre they might be commonly associated with.
Presenting the American songbook as a living, breathing entity that's expanding all the time is very important.
I think, until I was 16, classical music had just seemed like a little bit of a rhythmic wasteland for me. Coming from bluegrass, where one conducts oneself rhythmically, it seemed like such a different approach, and at that point the difference that I was noticing was a real turn off to me.
The constructive criticism that I take very seriously is from people I know and respect, and they don't have to be musicians. But I do have to know where they're coming from.
My life conforms to music, not the other way around.
I was two years old when I saw the mandolin for the first time, and I just loved it. I just loved the sound of it, the shape of it even, and the way it looks. And I still love it, which is a testament to something.
I obviously love music very, very much.
We love music, and when it's good we flip. And we want to get to the core of why it's good.
My favorite bar in New York City is called Milk and Honey, a great cocktail bar.
I can't listen to music while I'm doing something else. Well, unless I'm working out. But I, like, fall off the treadmill all the time if I'm listening to something that I like too much.
Musicians and non-musicians alike are priding themselves on the width and breadth of their musical interests, which I think is to be encouraged.
Growing up in a bluegrass or acoustic-oriented world, the musicians become so focused on performance, as far as playing. We tend to overanalyze the notes, so you're always trying to sharpen everything up.
Music should never be a dictatorship. It should be a symbiotic relationship between the musician and the audience.
Tradition matters. To me it's not a limiting force; it's a springboard.
I certainly love the bluegrass ensemble, I think it's a powerful tool, but I don't think it's more than a tool.
Improvisation is an important part of bluegrass, and I would hasten to add that classical music wasn't always such an improvisational void. Back in the day, everyone's cadenzas were improvised, and improvisation was taught in conservatories.
