I'm not the kind of guy who deserves to play a vintage guitar because I'm too rough on instruments.

- Tommy Shaw

Once you start thinking about it in a mercenary frame of mind, then you're finished. You're a joke, because there are too many mercenaries out there already.

- Tommy Shaw

On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me.

- Tommy Shaw

As a solo artist, I just felt cemented in front of the mike stand. There was very little time to play with the audience and be a band member.

- Tommy Shaw

I don't write on tour. There is so much to do day in and day out when you are on the road.

- Tommy Shaw

I feel like I have the greatest life an artist could dream of.

- Tommy Shaw

I love the idea of stepping out of the band situation into a solo world with no boundaries, no expectations, where nothing is out of bounds.

- Tommy Shaw

I soon gave up instruction for self-teaching.

- Tommy Shaw

I wrote songs all my life, where anyone wanted to hear them or not.

- Tommy Shaw

It is all about being open and paying attention to the music in your head. I think most people have original music playing in their heads from time to time.

- Tommy Shaw

If I have an idea, I write it down, although I usually carry a little dictation machine with me because I'm too lazy to write.

- Tommy Shaw

Les Pauls work out real well for me because I'll beat the hell out of them and they'll still work. The only trouble with them is finding good ones.

- Tommy Shaw

Make sure you know what you are signing when you sign a recording contract.

- Tommy Shaw

There were some older guitarists on my side of town, and I got to know many of them.

- Tommy Shaw

When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing.

- Tommy Shaw

When it stops being fun, stop.

- Tommy Shaw

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.

- Tommy Shaw

Around '75 when the recession hit, club owners started going to disco because it was cheaper for them to just buy a sound system than it was to hire a band.

- Tommy Shaw

We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure out the originals.

- Tommy Shaw

Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.

- Tommy Shaw