By David DeRocco

For all the strange things rock stars and artists put in their mouths, there’s an equally strange amount of stuff that comes out of them. From the pages of GoBeWeekly.com comes this selection of quotes by some of the artists we featured in 2018. Enjoy

“You can’t be in a band without thinking you’re great. If you don’t then you’re in trouble. We think we’re great. We thought we were great when we were making records for Warner Brothers. And we put in a solid effort there for three records but we didn’t think we got the results we deserved. When the Hootie version of “I Go Blind” came out it was a bit of vindication for us. Without any kind of radio promotion it got to #3 in the country with zero push. That tells you something. That’s a really strong song. We took that as vindication that we were good and that we write good songs.” 54.40’s Brad Merritt, commenting on the song that proved his record label wrong.

“When we started out our first two records were prog-ish. We were considered America’s answer to Yes and Genesis on our first two records.” Burleigh Drummond, drummer for soft-rock band Ambrosia, talking about the band’s prog-rock influences.

“Me and the drummer from Journey, I believe it was Ansley Dunbar, he and I got into too many pina coladas at the show and we just had a ball. I don’t really remember much of the show.” April Wine’s Brian Greenway, on his vague recollections of opening for The Rolling Stones at Rich Stadium

“That’s a bit of trip to think about. Yeah, I never thought about it that it would be that way, that it would be ‘that song’ for other people. If it is, awesome, that’s great.” Big Wreck’s Ian Thornely, on the fact “That Song” has become “that song” for fans

 “I’ve always had this sort of existential aspect to my music and just my personality in general, it’s something I’ve always thought about. The song is kind of about my career and my life, this over-arching theme of things. But it’s also a song about the current environment and the politics in America. I wanted to make a song that was a big picture song.”   Canadian hip hop artist Cadence Weapon, on his song “The Afterparty”

 “It’s actually getting more fun now because we’re really getting inside the music now. We’re just playing. We’re getting it. It’s more fun than it ever was. We’re not self-conscious. We know what works.” Teenage Head’s Dave Rave, on rejoining and reigniting the band.

“In the past, I was afraid that if I mixed my acoustic songs with my more rocking material it would confuse people. I don’t think I was giving people enough credit, as I was listening to The White Album by The Beatles recently and thought ‘Well, the diversity shown on this collection didn’t seem to hurt!’” Guitarist David Gogo, on the mix of songs on his new release 13

 “It’s those certain things that bring people back, songs like “Baby Hold Onto Me” and “Shakin’.” If you think about it I had 16 songs in the Top 100. That’s like a Billy Joel or a Rod Stewart. I have to thank the big guy upstairs because we had a lot of great songs. And to see people light up when we do these songs on stage, it’s really fantastic.” Singer Eddie Money on his career success

“I do think of myself as a musician and a songwriter. That’s always critical to me, bringing something to the table that has strength to it musically, lyrically, that the energy of the song, the selection of instruments, the way it works, that the whole creative process feels right and connects with the listener. That’s what this is all about after 45 years.” Renowned children’s entertainer Fred Penner on the importance of the music.

“You’re always on, it’s true. There’s a time when you can turn the spigot way on, but it’s always dripping. And I’ve always got my wares up looking at things, trying to take in things and filtering them through my process. I find that anything could move me. That’s what this album has really been about. It’s not so much about my personal feelings. It’s about things happening to other people that I have observed.” Gino Vannelli on the inspiration for his new acoustic album.

“When I went to high school, I said to friends ‘I’m going to be a rock star.’ And however people write that off to being arrogant or whatever, we did what we set out to do. We’re not as big as Springsteen, but you don’t have to be Springsteen to be a rock star. It’s a way of life. You never work. You entertain people. They actually pay you to entertain them.” Greg Godovitz, reflecting on the end of his band, Goddo

“It was about creating cool music that we were all into. But it was also a lifestyle of just annihilation.” Headstones guitarist Trent Carr on the band’s early motivation.

 “Is it a good time to be a comic? No, not really. The best comedy comes when you have a certain amount of affection for the person you’re talking about. When you really don’t like the person you’re talking about the comedy can take a turn. Like right now we live in an era where if you don’t believe in comedian’s politics you don’t like the comedian, which doesn’t make any sense.” Jay Leno, on the state of comedy under Trump.  

 “We were taking pictures and I was standing with the other honourees and holding the award, just taking pictures and everything. And somebody, I can’t remember who, just kind of said to me casually, ‘you and your dad are the only father-daughter in the Hall of Fame.’ And it just hit me. It was just such a beautiful moment. It was a powerful connection that I wish my dad could have known about.” Roseanne Cash, daughter of Johnny, upon her induction into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame

 “No, that’s pretty much the last thing that crosses your mind when you’re trying to make your way in the musical world. As things progress – or regress depending on your point of view – you learn to expect the unexpected. Anything can happen. I will say it was a shock to see our band logo on a onesie for the first time, equally so on a beer glass. But you can get used to anything.” Sam Roberts, on the pros and cons of excessive merchandising

“We actually paired down our rider because I can’t stand wasting stuff. We’d roll in and there would be wonderful meat trays and cheese and veggie trays and the guys wouldn’t touch them. So we’re trying to dial a little bit of that back. What does have to stay the same is the booze. We can’t live without that. We can live without the sweaty cheese trays. We can’t live without our bottle of tequila.” Tim Hicks, discussing his “Get Loud” tour rider

“When you look at the early Spoons we definitely weren’t as good musicians then but there was this magic thing going on. Both are good and you want to retain some of that. You don’t want to become some jaded perfectionist and just run through the motions every night. That’s why we mix it up, that’s why we do acoustic shows. We try to change it up because it keeps it interesting for us.” Gordon Deppe of The Spoons on keeping it fresh every night.

“You try not to think about it, because we sleep on those tour buses. You go to bed and you try not to think about what would happen if the bus just went off a bridge or into a snowy bank or something. You do have to trust your tour bus driver.” Theory of a Deadman’s Tyler Connolly on travelling by bus in the wake of the Humboldt Bronco tragedy

“I don’t know any polite Canadian audiences. When we play in Canada people go crazy. Going to a Tower of Power show is like going to a James Brown or Prince concert. It’s high energy and high emotion. It’s not only fast dance tunes. It’s also ring your heart out like a rag love songs. It’s an experience. We know how to get an audience on their feet.” Tower of Power founder Emillo Castillo on playing to Canadian audiences.

 “We’ve know those guys for a lot of years. That’s a huge opportunity for us to go out on tour with a band like that. We really appreciated it. A lot of people want to put them down, it’s kind of trendy. But the reality is every place we were playing was sold out. Everybody’s got an opinion and they have a right to it. But there’s a tremendous amount of people coming to the concerts. I like to give respect to all rock. Anyone keeping rock alive and strong, there’s respect in that.” Seether guitarist Clint Lowery on touring with Nickelback.

 “People aren’t fooled these days. I remember a day back in 1990. We had been on the road so long. And one girl, she came to me in a club in Ontario and she told me ‘you know what, we see your neck ties more than we see your guitars.’ What she was saying was on stage we looked like people who were there for the money, period. She sensed that we were having no fun at all. I reflected on that later on and thought maybe she had a point. Maybe we’re not having any fun at all here. Today we hit the stage and we love it.” Jean Marc of The Box, on his renewed appreciation for touring with his band

“Usually the response we get is, you guys rock harder than we expected. We’re a rock band. I like the way our records are made, they’re really well made. But it’s more of a rock show. We’re a real rock band. It’s a little bit louder than people expect. And Steve’s pretty good at getting the crowd up on its feet.” Smashmouth’s Paul De Lisle, on the comment he hears most from fans

“Everybody likes a pat on the back whether they admit or not, they can be a bit blasé about it. You never see anybody turn it down and they’re always smiling and grinning and they’re loving it, as they should. There’s good times and bad times. I think about all the travel, all the rubbish you have to go through in life. If there’s that little bit of paper on the wall that says, hey you did good, it’s a nice thing. I’m very respectful of all those occasions. One day I would love to be there, whether it’s with Jethro Tull or even my band. It’s just a very nice thing to have happen to you.” Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre, on the band’s ongoing exclusion from the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame.

“It’s such a cliché. You can sit and talk for hours about how things have changed, and how old cats signed away their publishing and didn’t get a penny and are living in their cars. The way I look at it, it’s an education money can’t buy but you sure do pay for it. It’s like a giant bank with a giant bank loan with the worst interest rate known to mankind. But we got the opportunity to do things our way. I’ll hand it to Epic New York for letting us do exactly what we wanted to do.” Killer Dwarf Russ Dwarf on record contract nightmares

"I run into people all the time who say, man, I wish there was some where to find out what's going on tonight. And I say,  go be informed! Click GoBeWeekly.com."   David DeRocco, Digital Editor, GoBeWeekly!