Michael McDonald

“I'm not the kind of artist who can just gear myself to a particular radio format without looking like a fashion victim.”

“I've felt the noose tightening for me for years at the major labels, where you're allowed to do less and less of what you would do most naturally and expected to do something that was expected to be saleable.”

“I didn't own a record player when I was younger. I just played every day after school and then started gigging around town. I heard bands and songs through friends of mine, but a lot of what I picked up on was learned by traveling through college towns.”

“I love Hank Williams songs, but I love hearing Ray Charles sing them much more.”

“What I particularly liked about Nineties hip hop was it had a certain reverence for the groove that I hadn't been hearing in a while.”

“I tell my son, when your music becomes less relevant, your pathetic comic value might be of some use. So you've got to go with it, you know.”

“I just don't think many people would have crossed the street to hear me doing a hip hop-influenced album!”

“Throughout my career, there has always been an element of surprise. Sometimes there are moments of disappointment; sometimes there are moments of surprising success.”

“Where I grew up in St. Louis, Saturday was country music day on television. We'd watch the Bill Anderson show, the Willie Nelson show, the Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner show, and always the Grand Ole Opry. My parents were fans of that music, and my friend's parents would pull the TV out and watch those shows on the porch.”

“Being in the studio, for me, can be a miserable experience - I can really psych myself out.”

“Most times, lyrics are the last thing I listen to, being a musician.”

“Hey, I'd love to have a hit single, but if that doesn't happen, I'm not going to complain.”

“When I first heard Thundercat's stuff, I thought, 'Man, this is so original.' A lot of his ballads, to me, had such a beautiful harmonic, almost classically Hispanic, feel or, like, Brazilian kind of feeling. I don't think he does that intentionally or anything. It's just I think those are his influences on some level.”

“When I was younger, I was pretty cavalier about my voice - I don't know that I even thought about it that much, to be honest with you.”

“We try to promote the Christmas season and remind people that it is a season of peace. That's what the season's real meaning is about. No matter what religion you are, there is that point in time where we should celebrate that idea of peace and humanity.”

“I remember one of my favorite all-time records was by Edwin Starr: 'Stop Her on Sight.'”

“There have been albums I've recorded in the past that have had success, and then there have been ones I've had extreme faith in, and they ended up as commercial failures.”

“I've been set up with a Twitter account, and I just never use it.”

“My friendship with The Doobie Brothers never really changed. We're all still good friends, and I really admire those guys a lot.”

“I enjoy it immensely, but I'm not comfortable on stage as a person.”