Tommy Shaw Quotes

I love the idea of stepping out of the band situation into a solo world with no boundaries, no expectations, where nothing is out of bounds.

Around '75 when the recession hit, club owners started going to disco because it was cheaper for them to just buy a sound system than it was to hire a band.

Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.

When I was about 3, my grandfather used to give me and my sister a nickel to sit out on the front porch with him and sing songs.

I'm not the kind of guy who deserves to play a vintage guitar because I'm too rough on instruments.

It was more fun trying to figure out I Want To Hold Your Hand than to take lessons. By this time I knew basic chords

I wish I had a nickel for every song that I've left in the bathroom, written down on a matchbox, or just totally forgotten about

Songwriting is the other weight on the opposite side of the scale from touring. They balance me out creatively.

If I have an idea, I write it down, although I usually carry a little dictation machine with me because I'm too lazy to write

On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me.

When a song gets its legs and begins to come to me, this is the euphoric hook that keeps me wanting to continue.

I don't like looking back.

I've always stuck with Gibsons. I've had Guilds and Fenders, too, but I always wind up going back to Gibsons.

As a solo artist, I just felt cemented in front of the mike stand. There was very little time to play with the audience and be a band member

I have always been a sucker for the big, upbeat chorus.

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.

I like being on the road, living in hotels. While I've got a real nice house, I go crazy when I'm there.

We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure out the originals

You can have fun, but you also have to put on your thinking cap every day

I was born in Alabama and my first live music experiences were in church. Every Sunday we watched regional gospel groups on television singing their hearts out

I wrote songs all my life, where anyone wanted to hear them or not.

By the time I did that third solo album, I'd finally learned how to do it, but I'd also learned that I liked being in a band

I don't write on tour. There is so much to do day in and day out when you are on the road.

I soon gave up instruction for self-teaching

We're kind of defined by our mistakes

If music became extinct now, I dont know what Id be good for.

When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing.

There were some older guitarists on my side of town, and I got to know many of them

I feel like I have the greatest life an artist could dream of.