Songwriters and musicians answer the question: What advice would you give to an aspiring songwriter/musician? Responses from:
Pete Seeger
Sir George Martin
Steve Reich
Jeff Barry
David Crosby
Graham Nash
Fats Domino
Willie Nelson
George Clinton
Alice Cooper
Jackson Browne
Slash
Wanda Jackson
Yoko Ono
Ian Anderson
Jon Anderson
Arlo Guthrie
Mike Love
Booker T. Jones
Eric Burdon
Dick Dale
Pat Metheny
John Mayall
Dave Mason
Jello Biafra
Jeff Mangum
Dr. John
Ann Wilson
Jimmy Webb
Greg Lake
Michael McDonald
Harry “KC” Wayne Casey
Richard Thompson
Tony Levin
Boz Scaggs
Geoff Emerick
Bonnie Bramlett
Doug “Cosmo” Clifford
Stu Cook
Mark Lindsay
Chuck Negron
Chuck D
Eddie Izzard
Rickie Lee Jones
Todd Rundgren
Alan Parsons
Don Felder
Peter Hook
Laurie Anderson
Dan Hicks
Glen Matlock
Alan Bergman
David Grisman
Danny Seraphine
Clem Burke
Stephen Perkins
Jack DeJohnette
Holly Near
Amy Ray
Will Jennings
Kinky Friedman
Nels Cline
Raffi
Yanni
Mark Volman
Howard Kaylan
Richie Furay
Bill Champlin
Tom Johnston
Ted Nugent
Billy Corgan
Peter Buck
Bryan Adams
Maceo Parker
“Weird Al” Yankovic
Jeremy Spencer
Karla Bonoff
Billy Duffy
Chris Shiflett
Nick Oliveri
Kronos Quartet: David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt
David Cassidy
Morris Day
Abdul “Duke” Fakir
Annie Haslam
David “Honeyboy” Edwards
Jody Williams
Jimmy Carter
Ray Manzarek
John Densmore
Robby Krieger
Paul Kantner
Jorma Kaukonen
Jack Casady
Martin Gore
Mike Campbell
John McEuen
Kim Wilson
Paul Barrere
Fred Tackett
Steve Hillage
Robben Ford
Bill Frisell
Charles Lloyd
Garry Peterson
Jim Kale
Emilio Castillo
Stephen ‘Doc’ Kupka
Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia
David Garibaldi
Richard Williams
Hale Milgrim
John Batdorf
Bones Howe
Don Randi
Bob Cowsill
John Cowsill
David Pack
David Lindley
Ricky Phillips
Rosemary Butler
Tata Vega
T-Bone Burnett
Johnny Rivers
Gary Brooker
Robin Trower
Garland Jeffreys
Airto Moreira
Phil Chen
Seun Kuti
June Millington
Jean Millington
Cherie Currie
Penelope Houston
Jake Shimabukuro
Country Joe McDonald
Jonathan Richman
Van Dyke Parks
John McFee
Pete Thomas
Kenny Aronoff
R. Stevie Moore
Steve Wynn
Steve Diggle
Pete Shelley
Andy Shernoff
Blag Dahlia
James Stevenson
Gary Twinn
Tony Kaye
Glen Phillips
Larry Ramos
Jim Yester
Gary Lucas
Charlie Musselwhite
Lester Sterling
Lynval Golding
Carl Giammarese
James Alexander
William Bell
Carl Graves
Martha High
Steve Vai
Thurston Moore
Bob Mould
Michael Gira
Lou Barlow
Cris Kirkwood
Curt Kirkwood
Mike Watt
Josh Tillman
Will Oldham
Bill Callahan
Buzz Osborne
Dale Crover
Jim Heath
Neil Hagerty
Bob Bert
Ken Stringfellow
Don Fleming
Jason Lytle
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
Josh Klinghoffer
Mike Muir
Mike Palm
Parry Gripp
Devendra Banhart
Neal Casal
Stephen Pope
Jonathan Wilson
Dana Janssen
Zac Holtzman
Ritzy Bryan
Kim Manning
Linnea Vedder
Robert Randolph
Jim Coleman
James Jackson Toth
John Doe
Exene Cervenka
Billy Zoom
DJ Bonebrake
Dave Alvin
Henry Rollins
Victor Krummenacher
David Lowery
Jonathan Segel
Greg Lisher
Davey Faragher
Sam Coomes
Janet Weiss
Jack Grisham
Ron Emory
Rick Wilder
Scott Franklin
Michael Livingston
Paul Mars
Merle Allin
Donald “Dino Sex” Sachs
Dannis and Bobby Hackney
Bruce Kulick
Chris Geddes
Michael Andrews
Joey Burns
Dallas Good
Connor Martin
Michael Chapman
Russell Ferrante
Jimmy Haslip
Eddie Tuduri
Brute Force
Mark Tulin
Ian Underwood
Billy Cox
Jim Kweskin
Geoff Muldaur
Chris Pinnick
Kevin Barnes
Will Cullen Hart
Scott Spillane
Julian Koster
Bert Lams
Paul Richards
John Kadlecik
Seymour Duncan
Daniel Levitin
David Freiberg
Steve Young
Justin Roberts
Taylor Goldsmith
Nolan Wheeler
Charles Bradley
Bob Margolin
Freebo
Thomas Brenneck
Mike Deller
Larkin Grimm
Jason Reeves
Buddy Miller
Black Francis
Alex Ebert
Al Kooper
Jeff Hanneman
Ira Kaplan