I'm now comfortable playing a lot of the old songs, and I've gotten out a lot of the old equipment.

You should play with real musicians; the best music comes from real people interacting with each other.

Washburn's an old American name, but this one was assembled overseas.

On Eye of the Zombie, I had so-called studio musicians.

That song has the full extent of my mandolin abilities; I'm not a good mandolin player at all.

As a songwriter, I try not to be sloppy; same with the music. You can be very lean, very efficient, so you're not wasting a lot of time getting' to the point. You're saying it with as pure a word or phrase as you can. That's the part that was craft. You refine and refine and refine. Maybe that's why the songs still hang on, because they're very pure. For one thing, they're very short. "Bad Moon Rising" is like 2 minutes and 12 seconds. I would try to do everything as quickly and with as little extra as possible. It was a challenge.

No, but I've always felt that with true talent, and a commitment to hard work, it is possible to achieve an enduring respect and appreciation. In other words, I don't take my fans for granted.