“I guess I just process death differently than some folks. Realizing you’re not going to see that person again is always the most difficult part about it. But that feeling settles, and then you are glad you had that person in your life, and then the happiness and the sadness get all swirled up inside you. And then you’re this great, awful candy bar, walking around in a pair of shoes.” —John Prine, quoted by Pitchfork, 2018
read rememberances in Rolling Stone and The New York Times
“Here’s another one from our tiny attic sessions we did in January. We miss playing together and we miss playing for our fans but we feel inspired by the connection and community that’s resulted from everyone trying to get thru this together. This song is a good reminder not to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy and be safe!”
“What you’re seeing is empty businesses, empty schools, empty playgrounds. What is the emotional toll that takes? How can we replace some of that emptiness with images of hope, resilience, anger, and also dreams of a future that is hopefully not far off?” –Mark Strandquist, Mural Arts Philadelphia
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Click here for a Vox.com article, with photos and additional links.
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“That’s why we make art, music, film…to connect. I mean, our contribution and our duty, above all, is to love people. And our contribution is to make things that relate to people. And through those things, that’s our vehicle to actually directly, physically, emotionally, connect with them.” —Scott Avett, September 2019
“When I write something simple I’m always really proud of it. When you write something that simple with that much air in it and the whole premise behind it is something pretty obvious – that everybody wants to be happy and free – the song is sort of an exercise in not forgetting that’s what you really want and what you really need. We can get caught up in a lot of other stuff.” —Steve Earle, 2016
click here for the full rolling stone interview with Earle and Shawn Colvin
“When you look at art made by other people, you see what you need to see in it.” —Alberto Giacometti
“Once a song’s out there, it’s no longer mine. And that the whole purpose of music: to belong to people.” —Sade Adu
“There’s something very simple that we overlook. And we have to consciously remember that it exists, and it’s this: There’s always, somewhere in the room, somewhere, a tiny, tiny little thread of goodness. Always. And you have to seek it out. You have to find that tiny little thread. And you have to touch it, and pull on it. And you have to actively, consciously make that choice. And that’s…if you forget about that, then you’re lost.” —Vincent D’Onofrio, August 2017
