John Tesh

“I've sort of become the poster boy for quitting your job and following your dreams.”

“I'm almost a vegetarian. I have a very rigid exercise routine. I'm up at 6 A.M.; I take a lot of ginseng.”

“When I was playing piano, it was like, 'I'm going to write a song using all the white keys.' My music director, who knew my jazz background, suggested I try big-band music, so we spent a year experimenting with it in concert, and the audience reaction was really good.”

“We never want to go into a tour and play 15 songs and say 'Enjoy.' We have messages: Number 1, follow your dreams. If I can do it, you can do it. Number 2, give your life to something. We say, 'Volunteer and add seven years to your life.' You can have your own personal ministry. The message we have is 'What do you stand for?'”

“Big band music, to me, it really has three key elements. First is the lyrics are really sweet, and they're just really family-friendly. The second thing is the music is jazz music, so the music is complicated enough to hold your attention for 5 or 6 million plays. That makes the songs interesting. The last part is the fact that it's danceable.”

“When I was first writing, I was writing mostly about sporting events, which was really what my assignments were. I was working on the Tour de France bike race and the Barcelona Olympic Games, and those songs tend to be very big, very bombastic-type music, which is the type of music that I love to write.”

“People like Bryant Gumbel and Bob Costas are terrific broadcasters because they get challenged every day.”

“The best thrill is standing on stage and playing - other than being married to my wife.”

“If you want to write the next great novel, but you think, No, this won't work because no one will buy it or it won't be any good, then you talk yourself out of taking a risk.”

“I can change a No. 1 diaper in 30 seconds and a No. 2 in a minute.”

“I guarantee you that the people who watch 'Conan O'Brien' or who watch 'Entertainment Tonight' and probably a lot of these other programs have never heard of Operation Blessing. Maybe they have heard of UNICEF, and I'm sure they have heard of the Red Cross, but they haven't heard of this organization.”

“I come from the performance world, but the idea of a worship song is different. It's useful music.”

“Oprah was famous for going to a garden party and ad-libbing. She could literally interview people for a half hour about nothing, and it was entertaining. She had her own show before she had her own show.”

“My house was really like 'It's a Wonderful Life.' I sang in the choir and was very involved in the church.”

“I hate to say it, but Christmas as a kid was always a moneymaking venture for me. I played trumpet, and a friend of mine who played trombone and a guy who played tuba, every Christmas we'd go out for three or four days beforehand and play Christmas carols on our horns.”

“I do a long sound check. I get there at noon on the day of a show and sit behind the piano and then walk around with the microphone. Then I feel like I have done my homework.”

“There are so many miserable people out there who have not fulfilled their dreams. I believe you should do something that you love.”

“After playing so many songs in churches for eight or nine years, I've learned what songs people react to. Then I just had fun with the arrangements. That's how this album came together.”

“I'd like to do a television show that is encouraging, useful, and clean, and I'd like to go up against Entertainment Tonight and beat it.”

“We feel like if we miss a Sunday at church, that's one thing, but we can't miss an opportunity to help.”