For every child prodigy that you know about, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you even heard about them.

I have a very simple philosophy. One has to separate the abilities from the disabilities. The fact I cannot walk, that I need crutches or a scooter or whatever it is, has nothing to do with my playing the violin.

I always find that there is a real communication between voice and violin.

We're just going to be ourselves, and we're just going to cross our fingers and hope that people like it. Because that's all you can do.

We're Midwestern guys who grew up listening to soul music.

There needs to be leadership in the heartland of America.

Most of our shows are about two and a half hours long.

There are a lot of dynamics and a lot of politics that go into records and getting played on the radio.

Getting to make the music, and having a good time doing it, is the most important thing to us.

Kids will ask us 'How do you become famous?' It's the wrong question. Focus on the craft, not on the fame.

We've always been proud of what we've done.

I have a hard time with musicians who act like pricks because it just makes me mad. I just sit there and I go, 'You know what, dude, no matter whether you're in a band just surviving or you're in a bus playing stadiums, one way or another, you're still among the rare breed of people that are actually getting paid to do it.'

We have always adapted ourselves to the songs instead of vice versa.

Yes, our band will change and evolve, but we want to establish the reality of what this band truly sounds like.

There are some seminal things that happened in the '70s for me: Billy Joel and Jackson 5.

At some point, you decide to take something you really like and turn it into a business you love.

The only way that you can ever continue to have a career and have success and have hits is if you are honest to yourself in the same way that you were in the beginning.

I joke that we're not dissimilar to a rock band in the '70s.

We felt like, first and foremost, we were songwriters.

As much as we were very proud of being a pop band, I know we never felt like we fit into that category.

In a phrase: I always hope it keeps getting better.

What's really important is that all we ever were was a band. And all we ever wanted to be was a band.

You just have to be yourself and make music you feel from your gut, and hopefully, your audience will respond.

There's no problem with fans and bands. There's a problem with the economics of the outside disruption of the industry.