I enjoy doing new tunes. It gives me a little bit to perk up, to pay a little bit more attention.

You can’t encore the past. If I see a bright light shining out there, I want to go toward it.

Earl Scruggs wears two finger picks and a thumb pick, and by alternating them, he can play about as fast as he wants. So it's this action. You know, you couldn't move one finger that fast, but all three, it's pretty easy, and it's kind of an incredible leap.

I enjoy doing new tunes. It gives me a little bit to perk up, to pay a little bit more attention.

I mean if it wasn't for Earl Scruggs, guys like me wouldn't be doing what we're doing. I mean, he's changed so many people's lives, honestly. I was thinking about all the thousands of people that live in Nashville, like myself, that there's no reason a guy from New York would end up down there if it wasn't for the sound of Earl Scruggs' banjo coming over the airwaves and just changing my life.

Earl Scruggs is the guy who really made that leap with using three fingers in a rotating fashion to create this fast rippling sound that had never been heard before.

I've heard of people stopping their cars, having car wrecks, all kinds of things. But most of the banjo players I know had that moment when they heard Earl Scruggs. So, for me, it transcends the technique. It's the musician in him and his personality, his musical personality, such great taste, such great technique, very, very creative.