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" My music has always been sort of in between categories. Sometimes record stores - back when there were record stores - they'd put my records in the country music section, but other record stores would put my records in the pop or even the rock section. As long as it's in the store somewhere, I'm OK with it. "

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" The most important thing you can do as a performer is to be yourself, or be an onstage version of yourself. If you're not being true to yourself, and somebody likes that other version of you, you're kind of stuck. "

Lyle Lovett

You

Yourself

Be Yourself

" I've always worked with people who have been supporters of me creatively. "

Lyle Lovett

Always

Been

" Growing up, the last thing I ever thought I'd do is be an entertainer. "

Lyle Lovett

Growing Up

Thought

" I'm not really a competitive person, and I'm not naturally comfortable in front of people. "

" As a songwriter, you try your best to write a good song, and you like nothing better than hearing a good song. It's easy to admire a great song, and you want to share out of enthusiasm. "

" I played guitar when I was young and never really considered it as a way to make a living. "

" If someone gives you a belt buckle, it's like a piece of jewelry. It has the same sort of emotional significance. It would be something you would intend to keep forever. "

Lyle Lovett

You

Jewelry

" A woman comes to a table, and you're supposed to get up. Period. But I don't always do it. In general, you're supposed to do it every time. But sometimes you're seated against the wall, and it's awkward. "

" You can't second-guess your audience. You can only do what you think is right. If you do that, your audience will appreciate you. "

" Songwriters aren't always performers, and even performing songwriters aren't always the kind of show-biz performers you think they'd be. "

" One of my favorite things is when people will ask for a song that I hadn't planned to play. It is really fun to see if you can remember something, and you don't always. I mean, sometimes it's just crash and burn. "

" In school, I didn't speak up often in class. I was never the person to yell out an answer. If I knew it, I might whisper it to my buddy and let him answer. I kept quiet. "

" When I first was trying to play the clubs around Houston to start playing my own songs, songwriters like Eric Taylor and Vince Bell and Townes Van Zandt and Don Sanders were just really encouraging to me and would let me sit in with them during their sets and introduce me to the person that owned and booked the club. "

Lyle Lovett

Own

Play

" I've never made a dime from a record sale in the history of my record deal. I've been very happy with my sales, and certainly my audience has been very supportive. I make a living going out and playing shows. "

" Records are very powerful promotional tools to go out and be able to play on the road, but you do have to think about it as a way of sustaining itself at some point. "

" Every crowd is different. But that's something that I enjoy, and you can feel it in the first few seconds when you walk out on stage. You know, how a crowd is. "

" Singing your own songs is all about individual expression. "

" My first performance was in second grade with my friend Rodney Fisher, and we worked up versions of 'Long Tall Texan' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.' It gave me a little early confidence that I could actually do this music thing. "

" Dad often told me, 'My job is to help my boss do his job and make him look good.' That was my dad's objective. Everything about the way he conducted himself was to communicate support for his superiors and respect for his coworkers. The way he dressed was his starting point in that communication. "

" You don't have to have anything in common with people you've known since you were five. With old friends, you've got your whole life in common. "

" I enjoyed hearing people do their own songs. I became attracted to singer-songwriters. I became interested in them as people; was curious about what they wanted to say. "

" I am limited by what I can think of to do-my choices are not so great. "

Lyle Lovett

Choices

Think

" It's really a lot easier to write about things that are problematic. Who wants to hear how happy you are? "

" Somehow you can tell the difference when a song is written just to get on the radio and when what someone does is their whole life. That comes through in Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Willie Nelson. There is no separating their life from their music. "

" My parents worked for Exxon, and they gave me every chance to take part in music. I took guitar lessons, and I was in the choir at school. "

Lyle Lovett

Chance

School

" I'm really in no danger of being perceived as a famous movie actor! "

" Wear what you want to wear. Do what you want to do. Be who you are. Pick out your own clothes. Be a man. And if that's too much to ask, as it almost always is for me, think of someone you consider to be a man and pretend to be like him. I pretend to be like my dad. "

" Tipping your hat to a lady is good form. If you're at a dinner table, you'd most certainly take your hat off - cowboy hat, baseball hat, or otherwise. "

" I've gotten to work with some wonderful directors and people who have been great teachers to me. "

Lyle Lovett

Work

Teachers

" The first time I toured with the 'Large Band' in 1988, I got so tired. If I just stood still anywhere, I could go to sleep. I was that tired. But I had to perform. And I did, and after that tour, I was much less fretful about going out onstage. "

Lyle Lovett

Tired

Sleep