ROBBIE ROBERTSON

One of the things I feel very strong about is the achievement of the Band really being a complete band.

Musical revolutions, I don't know how many I've been through.

It's a bit of a sore spot, the Thanksgiving in Indian country.

I saw Ray Charles at Massey Hall.

I could never be a movie star and get up at 7:30 to be at someone else's studio.

After the 'Last Waltz' concert, it just seemed very healthy to me to put making a record as far out of my mind as I possibly could.

The native music of North America, the original-roots music of this country, is also the underworld music of this country.

I admire those old road dogs, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan. That's their life.

I love the idea of having a kid who says, 'Yeah, of course I knew about Billie Holiday and Johnny Cash when I was nine years old.'

I haven't been to many music events where somebody was performing and it actually made me cry.

I feel so lucky to have been in a group where it was a real band. This wasn't a singer and guitar player and some other guys.

People think I left The Band and spoiled this whole thing, and that's not what happened. Nobody broke up The Band. Nobody ever said, 'That's it, we're done.'

Everybody grows in their own way.

Chuck Berry told me if it wasn't for Louis Jordan, he wouldn't have probably ever even got into music. That Louis Jordan changed everything and made him want to become a musician.

I really have to feel a sense of freedom in my storytelling.

I'm really lucky because I found myself in a position where I can do whatever I want to do. I can make records, produce records, make movies, or I can do nothing. I'm not a slave to the dollar.

Think about the number of people who do film music, make records and have a Native American heritage - and I may be the only one on the list.

By the time I was 13, I was the only one in London, Ontario, who knew how to play rock n' roll.

Some music is supposed to be disposable; that's OK. A lot of music is fun for today, but it isn't supposed to be timeless; it's supposed to be trendy.

That whole lifestyle - make a record, do a tour: I know how to do that. It doesn't interest me.

The Band was rebelling against the rebellion. The rebellion went to a place where it became too obvious, too trendy, like you were just following the pack. So it was our choice to get off the bandwagon - no pun intended - and do things that were in our background and what was the most honest thing to do.

When I was 14 years old, I had the opportunity to meet Buddy Holly. I asked him how he got that big, powerful sound out of his guitar amp. He said, 'I blew a speaker and decided not to get it fixed.'

I like to work on records when I feel inspired, not because it's expected of me.

I think the world of Chuck Berry.

In Americana, the facts and the dreams seem to be all the same to me.