I could never be grateful enough to the Doobies for the opportunities the organization gave me over the years.

I love writing Christmas music. It's some of the easiest songs to write... You draw from your own memories - it's kind of a wellspring of inspiration, in a way. With other songs, you know, you spend six months just trying to figure out what to write about.

Brian Owens is a young guy from Ferguson, Missouri, my hometown, who I don't think emulates me at all, but I really enjoy his particular style. He kind of makes me think of the older school of soul singers like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye.

My first rock band was called Mike and the Majestics. I was about twelve, and my older sister Kathy was the manager. There were three of us: me and a friend on guitars and a drummer. We were young, but we played for a lot of fraternity parties, plugging both guitars and a microphone into one little amplifier.

I'd like to do something with Frank Ocean, you know, and I love working with Thundercat, and I'd love to do more with him.

While making any record, you look for the opportunity to bring someone who will help generate something special in the music environments you create.

There were certain Ray Charles albums and a couple of early Marvin Gaye records that I used to listen to with a vengeance. That's how you forge a style. It excites you, and you lean toward it almost unconsciously. I was also a Beatles fanatic, but I didn't emulate them the way I did the R&B artists.

My musical education started before I could see over the dashboard, just listening to the radio and cranking up our favorite songs as they came on.

Whenever I sing blues from the '50s or the kind of blues that you might have heard Eric Clapton or Duane Allman emulate, I often feel the similarity of some of the ragtime stuff I sang early on. A lot of the phrasing and the harmonization is the same.

I think every ounce of pain in just living always ends up being the best thing that happened to me. It's always a growth period. I learn at the speed of pain.

When Kanye gets to a point where he can actually put a couple of notes together either vocally or two bars of valid music playing an instrument, then he might have a right to criticize somebody else.

No matter what anyone else thinks, if someone appreciates what you do, whether it's 10 people or a million people, it's all good - because the only reason you make music is to have someone appreciate it.

I'm a big country fan. I remember, as a kid, when Ray Charles did the 'Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music' record. That's one of the reasons I became a country fan.

Aretha Franklin holds a significant place in the collective heart of America. She's a singular example of what we represent at our best.

I was attracted to black music for the same reason that I loved those old Irish ballads. Both were social statements of sorts, and both were indigenous to their respective cultures: Ireland, where my father had grown up, and towns like St. Louis along the Mississippi River, where I was growing up.

Looking back, I sometimes wish I had done things differently. But if I had, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have proven to be my own worst enemy.

I went to Catholic grade school, so we sang a lot of religious songs: 'O Holy Night,' 'Silent Night.'

For me, a lot of my fondest memories of being in the music business were being in the studio with The Doobs and being part of that organization and being a part of that music.

In the '70s, there was no shortage of people taking themselves too seriously, as 'artistes,' if you will. I think we all had a tendency to do that at some point in our career. So looking back on that, it's fun to laugh at it.

I've always felt like the Forrest Gump of the music business. I've been fortunate to work with a lot of great people.

The Stax/Volt stuff is really what I grew up on.

In one way or another, all my songs are about the necessity for trust.

I've felt the noose tightening for me for years at the major labels, where you're allowed to do less and less of what you would do most naturally and expected to do something that was expected to be saleable.

Throughout my career, there has always been an element of surprise. Sometimes there are moments of disappointment; sometimes there are moments of surprising success.

'Livin' on the Fault Line' was kind of a commercial disappointment for us, although it seemed to have a certain buzz with the smaller fan base we had.

I've always written short stories.

I grew up with this idea that songwriters had a great job. My family was Irish Catholic, so if you became a priest or a songwriter, you were golden.

I write about humility, because it's something I hope I one day actually possess.

I just don't think many people would have crossed the street to hear me doing a hip hop-influenced album!

I love Hank Williams songs, but I love hearing Ray Charles sing them much more.

Most times, lyrics are the last thing I listen to, being a musician.

I remember one of my favorite all-time records was by Edwin Starr: 'Stop Her on Sight.'

I use Facebook, but I find that I'm... if I put up a picture of my dog there or a sunset or something, I get a million hits. If I mention anything to do with my career, three people respond. And/or if I say anything political, I have to duck afterwards. I try to be selective.

I'm not the kind of artist who can just gear myself to a particular radio format without looking like a fashion victim.

When I was younger, I was pretty cavalier about my voice - I don't know that I even thought about it that much, to be honest with you.

I've come to learn that music speaks for itself.

Each generation tries to disassociate itself with the last generation. And then, about three decades later, people kind of start to maybe appreciate what you might have done a while back that you don't even realize you did.

We've reached a point where people don't even know how to look for anything fundamentally important anymore.

I think it takes longer for me to make a record than most artists.

I enjoy it immensely, but I'm not comfortable on stage as a person.

There have been albums I've recorded in the past that have had success, and then there have been ones I've had extreme faith in, and they ended up as commercial failures.

It was surprising, really, that 'Minute by Minute' did as well as it did and as quickly as it did.

I didn't own a record player when I was younger. I just played every day after school and then started gigging around town. I heard bands and songs through friends of mine, but a lot of what I picked up on was learned by traveling through college towns.

For me, one of the best things of having been a Doobie Brother is that the people involved always were great people.

I've never felt that I was doing anything more worthwhile musically than when I was with Steely Dan.

Working with Thundercat was really a thrill.

I felt a real kinship with Steve Bruner. He's one of those guys that is so prolific that he has a hard time keeping up with himself. I'm the opposite and move at a glacial place.

I'd say that Ray Charles is definitely the biggest influence on my singing. Also Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.

I wish I wrote songs like Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Don Henley, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, so many of the songwriters I admire. They have the ability to say things.

Frankly, I think it's flattering to be compared to someone like Michael Bolton, who I think is a phenomenal singer with a spectacular range.