What Good Are Fans? You

Early On, Before Rock 'n' Roll, I Listened To Big Band Music - Anything That Came Over The Radio - And Music Played By Bands In Hotels That Our Parents Could Dance To. We Had A Big Radio That Looked Like A Jukebox, With A Record Player On The Top. The Radio/record Player Played 78rpm Records. When We Moved To That House, There Was A Record On There, With A Red Label. It Was Bill Monroe, Or Maybe It Was The Stanley Brothers. I'd Never Heard Anything Like That Before. Ever. And It Moved Me Away From All The Conventional Music That I Was Hearing.

I Was Sick Of The Way My Lyrics Had Been Extrapolated, Their Meanings Subverted Into Polemics And That I Had Been Anointed As The Big Bubba Of Rebellion, High Priest Of Protest, The Duke Of Disobedience, Leader Of The Freeloaders, Kaiser Of Apostasy, Archbishop Of Anarchy, The Big Cheese. Horrible Titles Any Way You Want To Look At It. All Code Words For Outlaw.

Art Is The Perpetual Motion Of Illusion. The Highest Purpose Of Art Is To Inspire. What Else Can You Do? What Else Can You Do For Any One But Inspire Them?

A Lot Of People Don't Like The Road, But It's As Natural To Me As Breathing.

You Were Born With A Snake In Both Of Your Fists While A Hurricane Was Blowing.