What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory.

I'm also getting an Ovation Legend, because I like them so much.

Well, I was born in Scotland and spent the first six years of my life there. Then I went to Newcastle-On-Tyne in northeast England, close to Scotland.

My idea of heaven is a place where the Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues.

A Strat was a thing of wonder .. when I was 14 or 15, the Shadows were a big influence, and they had the first Strats that came to England. I like to play all kinds of guitars, but I wasn't getting the sound I really wanted until I got a Stratocaster

I don't really think of Dire Straits as a sound, you know. It. just depends on the song, and the stuff we're doing is so varied.

I love Gibsons, and Nationals, too. There's something magical about them.