It's very hard to come across as a passionate human being in print. People can't hear the inflections in your voice.

I was a kid, 12 or something, when the Partridge Family was big on TV. I liked the curly cord running from the bass to the amps, which were real fancy. That cord looked so cool. I said, 'Wow! I gotta play something like that!'

I've never really heard anybody imitating anything of mine the way they do with Edward Van Halen's stuff.

My past is very interesting, and I treasure it, but to write about it, it's just not on my radar.

It just happens in life, where you resonate with a particular artist. Or it can be a kind of food or a fashion - you discover it and it gives you a whole new lease on life.

I'm a big fan of cultural music, and that's how I try to expand my playing, by listening to music that is not conventionally American.

It's always funny to me when people use the phrase 'Best guitar player in the world'. There are too many variables such as technique, uniqueness, emotional investment in the notes, etc. But If I had to pick one, it would be Tommy Emmanuel. Watching him perform can be a study in artistic and virtuosic human achievement.