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.'
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.
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.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is not a political band, but you know what? We believe in this country. We have a soft spot for our military. We love the red, white and blue, and every night we dedicate a portion of our show to our fighting men.
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.
We're about music. We're not about politics.
Next time you go get bin Laden, don't call it Operation Geronimo, and if anyone wants to stand toe-to-toe with me and talk about it, I'm open, brother.
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.
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.
Recording should be fun.
If you really stop to think about it, the last really big guitar hero was Eddie Van Halen, and that was back in the '80s - early '80s, you know what I mean? That's a long time ago.
I'm Native American, so the racial thing kind of hits home with me.
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 find that America is moving toward a certain type of government that everybody else is moving away from, and I find that very upsetting to me.
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.
Here's the deal: You can't go in with the intent that, 'All right, we're gonna write another 'Free Bird' or 'What's Your Name.'' You can't think about it in those terms, because you'll never outdo your history.
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.
My old man Shorty was a huge figure in my musical life.
I often use dropped D or C - I even go all the way down to A. What can be really cool is drop a guitar down there and have the rest of the band continue in standard tuning. It gives it a lot of power and texture.
I've got a few great old Marshalls that I use live: '71 and '72 heads and an old combo with 2x12s.
