Macon has such a rich musical history - and the state of Georgia as well.

I'm not giving up my history and what I've done in my music because I love it and I'm very proud of it. I just want to open it up for more people.

Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it.

Hip-hop's always reached out to kids. If you look at the last 10 big albums it might seem ironic. But when I look at the history of this music it's always had a lot of positivity.

I know there's some kind of history to mountain music-like it came from Ireland or England or Scotland and we kept up the tradition.

The whole history of pop music had rested on the first person singular with occasional intrusions of the second person singular.

Music can be healing and with my history and my knowledge of both sides of what looks like a gigantic divide in the world I feel I can point a way forward to our common humanity again.

You can't fake this music. You might be a great singer or a great musician but in the need that's got nothing to do with it. It's how you connect to the songs and to the history behind them.

If our history can challenge the next wave of musicians to keep moving and changing to keep spiritually hungry and horny that's what it's all about.

I believe that music in itself heals and that everything is about the power of the mind. I thought if you are happy you don't get ill. Your health is in your head. When you are satisfied with your work you don't get ill.

Having good health being able to breathe and be happy that's one of the most beautiful gifts. On top of that I have the gift to play music and make people happy through that. I'm just telling you from my heart I'm so in love with life.

As musicians and artists it's important we have an environment - and I guess when I say environment I really mean the industry that really nurtures these gifts. Oftentimes the machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds that have a lot to do with the health and well-being of society.

Medicine to produce health must examine disease and music to create harmony must investigate discord.

So many people equate money and success with happiness especially in the music industry.

My biography of Frank Sinatra is not paean to his music but rather an illumination of the man behind the music who once described himself as 'an 18-karat manic-depressive who lived a life of violent emotional contradictions with an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as happiness.'

The music is the message the message is the music. So that's my little ministry that the Big Man upstairs gave to me - a little ministry called love and happiness.

Musicians are probably the most uncomfortable people in themselves in the world. Happiness I think only exists when you're a child and once you go past 11 unfortunately it's gone.

The pop musicians often leave meaning in the dust and substitute it for cartoons. The deeper artists - the grunge artists in the world and the emoticon people - tend to leave all of the happiness out of life like it just doesn't exist.

It was physically difficult adjusting to wheelchair life but I remember a great relief and happiness that I was finally getting somewhere finding musicians to work with that were sympathetic.

I enjoy being happy every day and hopefully you can hear my happiness in my music. Life is beautiful.

I always seem to have a vague feeling that he is a Satan among musicians a fallen angel in the darkness who is perpetually seeking to fight his way back to happiness.

Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness.

I was really into Black Sabbath but heavy guitars can really be very limiting it's a great frequency and it's great fun to listen to but on the other hand musically you can do a lot more without it.

The Bee Gees who are brilliant I just love great music.