Steve Forbert

“I've had an advantage; I've had a sort of open public acceptance in New York that doesn't happen to just anyone trying to make the transition you were talking about.”

“I've been traveling around to play music since before I even had a driver's license.”

“It's often said that life is strange. But compared to what?”

“Folk-rock hasn't changed much over the decades since the Byrds started it.”

“It's not like making records is terrible. Still, I do find the writing of the songs and the live shows to be the things that give you the most clear picture of what it's all about.”

“People can't stay out of their cars. I do think we have a real problem staying out of our automobiles. We have a real dependency on them, and it may be for more than just transportation.”

“So I played the acoustic guitar and harmonica and stomped my foot and I think I was right in assuming that Greenwich Village would be the best place to perform my own material and possibly get some attention, move on to making records and all.”

“I have a knack for writing tribute songs for people who will never know about them.”

“And the music, as far as a type of music, it's still pretty viable.”

“I'm never gonna be a Carlos Santana - an instrumentalist. I just like songs. It's three minutes of something that can be very powerful.”

“I don't cringe when I think of doing old material. A lot of the people have been with me through the years.”

“For as long as I'm able to write songs and sing them, it's just about making them ones I feel proud to sing again and again.”

“My priority doesn't lie with the whole website and Facebook and such; I'm still walking down the road in a pair of real shoes. You need to just play as much as you can. Get in front of people, as I've always said. It doesn't matter if it's ten people at an open mic or opening a show for someone. Play all the time.”

“I'm still trying to make it. I'm still trying to get this over and do it and hopefully leave some kind of a mark on the course of American music, particularly in the tradition of what you might call the singer-songwriter.”

“I just play, and I'm always trying to write songs.”

“You have a song, and people know it. It's like a calling card for you.”

“If something doesn't work, you have to admit it. Always try to find what's going right and what's going wrong with your music. If you can, pool your resources and record yourself; do that frequently.”

“I like getting requests from audience members.”

“You don't see a lot of difference between the Gin Blossoms and the Byrds.”

“But I'm able to just keep going, and that's the challenge. It's the next song. And then just enjoying the shows and people who come out to the shows. It's pretty organic, really.”