Huey Lewis & The News
Huey: The idea for the "If This is It" video was a summertime beach scene on steroids … complete with Mario applying suntan lotion to his leather jacket.
The heads-in-the-sand scene was not very fun to shoot (as you can imagine) and that was very funny in itself for those of us who didn't have to be buried!
Cowboy Mouth
Fred: In October of 1990, there were two musicians that I was struggling to put something together with. I was still thinking in terms of a three piece, because I saw that as balanced.
But it just wasn't working. It was terrible. And these were good players. They weren't slouches at all. But it just didn't work.
And then I had a light bulb moment. "I wonder what John Griffith is doing?"
He joined and suddenly everything coalesced. He sang like a lead singer. So singing together was easy. And John and I have always had very complimentary tones when we sang together. We sing really well together.
And he brought a sound that kind of acted as a musical blanket to everything. It made the sound bigger, but it also hid flaws too.
I'll never forget, the first song we played together was "Why You Want To Do Me?" I remember at that moment the band went from really, really terrible to being something special. You could feel the electricity in the room. That was one of the wildest experiences of my life.
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Kim: When you are recording, you spend months listening to nothing but yourself. So every now and then you'll listen to things for reference. Most of the time, when I'm listening to other people, I'm listening just for the fun of it, just for the enjoyment, just to keep the music around me, just to keep the music flowing. And the whole vibe of what I want to put on a record. That's how I get it. I don't listen to cop licks. I just listen to get the whole vibe and the enjoyment, because there's a certain thing to the old recordings that the new ones don't have.
John “Papa” Gros
If you want to contribute to the New Orleans music tradition, then you can never take a day off.
If your goal is set high, the bar is set even higher by the greats who came before you.
You'll never get there if you don't put the time in. You'll never have a chance.
I just want a chance. I want to make a difference in New Orleans music.
Cimarron 615
Ronnie: Most musicians know that it has to be more about feeling than thinking. If you're working on a solo in the studio, you want to let it fly, let the mistakes happen. You can fix them later.
Red Wanting Blue
Scott: If you're a music listener that's listening for flawless perfection, I don't know if we'll ever be the band for you. We're always looking to find a musical moment, coddle it, and turn it into something that can really be remembered. For me, that's the best thing in the world.
Blue Élan Records
Morgan Myles: I interpret the song “Hallelujah” as a heartbreak of desperation. Faith truly comes when you have hit rock bottom. I've hit rock bottoms before. Your lows, your valleys, those moments where you've lost somebody. You don't understand. That word “Hallelujah” begins to take new shapes, and it means something to everybody but in different ways.
Truly it's about the heartbreak of a romance. But I think for me, when you get to the Hallelujah, and why I take it so powerfully at the end, is the message that you're going to get through this. The Hallelujah is hope. When you're down that low, no, you're not alone. It's the Hallelujah that you can breathe again and that you will heal. That's why I feel that song is so important. It takes on different depths as you're going through life.
I want to make everybody in the room feel that it's okay. You're going to get through it. You're going to get to the other side.
So it's a responsibility. You really have to deliver that song with a value in your heart.
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix
Louie: Each song has to tell a story, whatever the story may be. So when you're singing a song, you're singing a story. That's really important.
I help professional musicians tell their stories.
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