Timothy B. Schmit

“I did a lot singing for one album for Crosby, Stills & Nash, and at the time, they didn't want anyone to know it wasn't Crosby.”

“I traveled a lot, but we didn't hire nannies to take care of our kids. We were both very hands-on. My wife did the lion's share because I traveled a lot, but it was important to us to do our best.”

“I've always been music-oriented. My dad was a musician, and I listened to the radio all of the time.”

“When I was in grade school, I remember singing in a chorus where they actually had two parts going. It was very easy for me to pick out the harmonies, and I kind of just went with it.”

“I grew up pretty much living in trailer houses. The third and final trailer house was called an 'Expando' because you could actually crank it open from 8 feet to 15 feet wide. It was a virtual palace for my brothers and I.”

“'White Boy from Sacramento' is just sort of a tongue-in-cheek autobiography. I hoped it came out a little humorous, but it's really all true.”

“Writing a song is work. You have to go deep in order to mine the material and dig it out.”

“A great song has to stand on its own, just singing and playing, and the rest is frosting. But you have to pay attention to the frosting.”

“I was playing surf music with my band when a girlfriend of mine who had come from Los Angeles took me to a James Brown concert. That show really changed my whole outlook and thought processes, especially about music and different cultures.”

“My youngest is 26, and so I hardly remember life not being a father, but my wife and I were hands on-parents.”

“Even though I grew up playing folk music - and surf music, originally - I was listening to Motown and Stax on the radio as well. That music always resonated with me.”

“I play some places where the people are right at my feet, and you can see their expressions. It's kind of more like playing in your living room. It's almost easier to play in front of thousands of people in an arena scene, in some ways, but you don't get the personal contact.”

“I probably learned most of my craft from singing to the radio.”

“My dad and I didn't talk much. Our relationship was OK but not amazing. So there I was, dressed up in my sort of uniform, the clothes my band was wearing at the time. He could tell I was I getting serious. I guess he knew I was going to go for it. So he told me how to handle myself professionally, not to take what people write about me to heart.”

“I'm not a big fan of file sharing. I mean, I've done it quite a lot for other people, where they send me the file, I do it and send them back. You don't get any back-and-forth and exchange and feedback when you do it that way.”

“Wherever your musical interest takes you, whether it's just in your garage or in your shower, never forget why you started. Keep that first and foremost in your mind.”

“I didn't really think too much about being any kind of pioneer. The truth is, I actually kind of caught onto a couple of really great coat tails in my career. The things were already moving when I got involved in both cases, really - Poco and the Eagles.”

“I'm good at fitting in, and I think I'm fairly perceptive about moods and psychic environments.”

“The two most mysterious things in our lives are birth and death. They are both miraculous events; one brings shiny, brand new life into the world, and the other snuffs it out like that. That person isn't there anymore.”

“People would call me up because they liked my voice, and they wanted some kind of vocal harmony. Sometimes I was asked to come in and sing all the harmony parts, and sometimes I would sing with other people.”