Tommy Shaw

“Make sure you know what you are signing when you sign a recording contract.”

“When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.”

“It was more fun trying to figure out I Want To Hold Your Hand than to take lessons. By this time I knew basic chords.”

“By the time I did that third solo album, I'd finally learned how to do it, but I'd also learned that I liked being in a band.”

“It is all about being open and paying attention to the music in your head. I think most people have original music playing in their heads from time to time.”

“You can have fun, but you also have to put on your thinking cap every day.”

“On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me.”

“Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.”

“When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing.”

“I've always stuck with Gibsons. I've had Guilds and Fenders, too, but I always wind up going back to Gibsons.”

“I soon gave up instruction for self-teaching.”

“I feel like I have the greatest life an artist could dream of.”

“I'm not the kind of guy who deserves to play a vintage guitar because I'm too rough on instruments.”

“I like being on the road, living in hotels. While I've got a real nice house, I go crazy when I'm there.”

“I wish I had a nickel for every song that I've left in the bathroom, written down on a matchbox, or just totally forgotten about.”

“We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure out the originals.”

“When a song gets its legs and begins to come to me, this is the euphoric hook that keeps me wanting to continue.”

“I don't write on tour. There is so much to do day in and day out when you are on the road.”

“I love the idea of stepping out of the band situation into a solo world with no boundaries, no expectations, where nothing is out of bounds.”

“When I was about 3, my grandfather used to give me and my sister a nickel to sit out on the front porch with him and sing songs.”