Music is a great healer.

I was a Skynyrd fan all along. But I was also the brother of the lead singer who passed on. I just didn't want to do anything that would harm the band's name.

We always joke that our road crew will have to wheelchair us up onstage soon because this is what we do. This is what we love to do. This is what God put us on earth to do until the day we take our last breath.

If people want to own a rifle or something like that for hunting purposes only, I tend to agree with that. But semi-automatic weapons and handguns, that's just unreal. I mean, what good are handguns?

In my opinion, the only people who should have handguns are the police.

We go to Europe, and they think we're totally prejudiced 'cause we hang the bars and stripes. But for us, the bars and stripes doesn't mean we want to see anybody in slavery or anything like that. It's just our heritage. To us, the bars and stripes means grits, 'y'all,' and the beauty of the South. There's no prejudice at all in that with us.

We write about things that we've done or things that have happened to people around us.

When you're 17, touring is fun.

Every redneck's dream is to write a song and have it go on a fishing show.

My dad was a truck driver, and from the time I was knee high to a grapevine, I was driving a truck.

I actually quit the business. I went and drove a truck for a year and a half.

I just love going out and playing my brother's songs.

I'm very proud to be from Jacksonville.

We don't get home enough.

Families do not stop living. We have got to keep going on. This is what people do.

People are asking us, 'Why have you gone country?' And we say, 'Man, we were born country.' They gave us the tag 'Southern rock' years ago as a way of not saying country.

Skynyrd just hasn't gotten its just due.

I'm a lover of old traditional country - George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Marty Roberts.

I kinda feel that my brother wrote some of the best country lyrics ever - 'The Ballad of Curtis Loew,' 'Mississippi Kid' and that little hit 'Sweet Home Alabama.'

Some of the country stuff in the past has been so polished - if you were a guy with a nice pair of jeans, a big belt buckle and nice hat, you were country.

So many artists try to be something that they're not.

When we are out on the road, running up and down the road playing shows, you have to be not only a member of a band but, especially with Lynyrd Skynyrd, you have to be a part of the Skynyrd nation. You have to be a part of the family.

Our newest member is Johnny Colt, who was bass player with The Black Crowes. Colt fits right in with us. He's loony as heck, and so are we. We have a great time and love doing what we do. I hope Johnny is with us for a long, long time. He is quite the guy.

I think country music is Lynyrd Skynyrd. I think a lot of the country music is what we do, but I don't think rock & roll is dead at all.

If rock & roll is dead and gone, man, I am missing out on it.

My dad was a truck driver. We all used to ride along with him. And the way he'd keep awake was to sing while he was going down the road. So we all joined in.

Who knows what the heck the future will bring.

We've got to take some drastic steps in this country. We can't keep spending and spending.

Rich people know how to party, too.

If you're going into music, work on your music and do it as well as you can. And look at it as a business. I'm in it to make a living, too.

When you set a goal for yourself, you do what you need to.

A lot of groups get dirty deals. They work hard and have to get a job after their career is over.

If people can't relate to something, there's no use of the song being there.

Some of the songs on the radio are really outrageous. I listen to the lyric. If the lyric doesn't make sense, I don't like the song.

Don't sign your publishing away.

You have people ask us how you get through all the stuff that Skynyrd's been through, and I think it's the music; it really is.

I've never met a person who doesn't like music, and we may vary in what styles we like, but everybody likes some form of music.

Rock & roll has kept us alive for all these years. But we just love country music. It's in our blood.

Nothing was easy for us coming up. But we were rich in family.

We didn't grow up rich people.

I think it's just that Skynyrd songs are timeless.

I think people relate to Skynyrd; it's a working class band. They're just songs with messages. To this day, there's never been a song written that didn't have a message.

Not every song of Lynyrd Skynyrd's was a single, but songs like 'Tuesday's Gone' and 'The Ballad of Curtis Loew' and 'Made in the Shade,' 'I Need You,' people learned those songs from the radio because radio played albums, not just singles.

My favorite singers in the world have been black singers, and you can go to any church and hear the best singers in the world - and I'm a singer, and I love singing!

I don't think you can erase history.

We have a song called 'Skynyrd Nation.' It's just about what our fans are, what they do in getting ready for the show.

John 5 - he's weird. He's a freak. I'm just kidding. He's a great guy.

There's nothing like getting out there playing a great show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.

Look at Montgomery Gentry. If those boys came out in the '70s, they'd be Southern rock.

I like George W. At a time when this country was hit hard, he stood up for America. He's been the leader of the free world during the hardest time America's ever had.