One thing I like about getting older is things, your spectrum widens, your capacity for compassion widens.

I had no proof that I had the stuff to be an artist, though I hungered to be one.

New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there are other cities. Detroit. Poughkeepsie. New York City has been taken away from you. So my advice is: Find a new city.

Sometimes I just wanted to raise my hands and stop. But stop what? Maybe just growing up.

I think I work in two worlds. I'll always try to kick through a wall. I did that when I was younger and I still have my way of doing that.

I had a handful of records, but when I was 11 years old, I liked Puccini as much as Little Richard. They both made sense to me.

Usually when I go to a place for the first time, unless there's something historical or spectacular that nature has to offer, the first thing I like to do is see what's on the minds of the people.