A biography for Cass McCombshasn’t been written yet.
“I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's no paycheck at the end; it's more of a 'whatever is left over' kind of situation.”
“People expect not just songwriters but all personalities to pontificate about their egos - they just wanna see someone talking about themselves constantly. I'm not interested in that.”
“Sometimes I feel like I finish a song, and there's another song that I have to write in response to that song. Each is like its own separate feeling, its own separate universe.”
“Lyrics are my racket; music is play - the fluff stuff.”
“Folk art has never been much about politics; it's about action and utility.”
“I have no idea what will become of my work in the future, the future folk will not be aware of our influence over them, as we are unaware of how our dead influence us.”
“I wouldn't go into the studio if I didn't have a band who's ready, willing, and able.”
“I project love, music and love, and I pray for peace. A good song cuts straight to the heart; sometimes it doesn't need to be too many lines - of course, I do love a good story.”
“It's hard to make out the difference between insults and bad advice.”
“I've always thought about myself as somewhat of a folk musician. I just write words. I don't think I'm even a musician. I don't play a lot of instruments, not really a soloist or anything.”
“Even if I'm writing music, it's with a lyric in mind, to communicate some kind of feeling.”
“I love songs because by nature they are concise; they sum up. I try to use as few words as possible. It's usually funnier that way, anyway.”
“I've always littered my songs with jokes. You might need to dig a little deeper to find the humor, but I would totally object to being some kind of distraught personality. I've never tried to attach myself to that.”
“I just write songs whenever I feel like it, whenever they come to me.”
“I was just a folk singer. I cut my teeth on the streets, you know.”
“Thank God we don't know a lot about Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautreamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious.”
“A lot of people don't know what it's like to actually be hungry. I do. I've also slept on the streets.”
“Music is the marriage of the feelings of the living to the wisdom of the dead.”
“When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes. It comes down to people's personalities and individual energies.”
“I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people; we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life, and I don't have a problem with that. This is a transitory world; we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it and holding on.”