It's often said that life is strange. But compared to what?
I haven't had the most lucrative career. If I'm going to be completely honest, I'm a one-hit wonder.
I've been traveling around to play music since before I even had a driver's license.
I don't cringe when I think of doing old material. A lot of the people have been with me through the years.
And the music, as far as a type of music, it's still pretty viable.
People can't stay out of their cars. I do think we have a real problem staying out of our automobiles. We have a real dependency on them, and it may be for more than just transportation.
Music should be truthful and real, but it should also be healing and uplifting.
I wouldn't be interested in just doing a show that's mapped out and choreographed with a set list. That would've been boring so long ago it just wouldn't be any fun.
But I'm able to just keep going, and that's the challenge. It's the next song. And then just enjoying the shows and people who come out to the shows. It's pretty organic, really.
Folk-rock hasn't changed much over the decades since the Byrds started it.
I just play, and I'm always trying to write songs.
I relate to the audiences and they know me. It's pretty real.
I'm not trying to be the new anybody.
I've had an advantage; I've had a sort of open public acceptance in New York that doesn't happen to just anyone trying to make the transition you were talking about.
There was just no way I could leave this little Martin guitar in my apartment overnight or even in the afternoon, and expect to find it there when I got back.
So I played the acoustic guitar and harmonica and stomped my foot and I think I was right in assuming that Greenwich Village would be the best place to perform my own material and possibly get some attention, move on to making records and all.
You don't see a lot of difference between the Gin Blossoms and the Byrds.
My priority doesn't lie with the whole website and Facebook and such; I'm still walking down the road in a pair of real shoes. You need to just play as much as you can. Get in front of people, as I've always said. It doesn't matter if it's ten people at an open mic or opening a show for someone. Play all the time.
If something doesn't work, you have to admit it. Always try to find what's going right and what's going wrong with your music. If you can, pool your resources and record yourself; do that frequently.
For as long as I'm able to write songs and sing them, it's just about making them ones I feel proud to sing again and again.
