Rodney Crowell Quotes

You can take your life into your own hands in terms of directing. There are ways for you to finance yourself and to write and make a film.

I still want to do features, but on my own terms.

I didn't come to Hollywood to be subservient to anyone else's vision.

My music has always been my solo project.

Even though I wasn't sure I could make it as an indie, almost immediately I felt as if a weight had been lifted off me. To be as independent as I am and to be able to support myself is incredibly satisfying. Everything I want to do myself, I can.

Very few artists are as independent as I am mentally, physically, spiritually and technically. I sit in my home studio and record things by myself. I don't need to get anybody's approval or validation.

To the extent that independent means you're willing to attempt to put your own ideas, personality, and commitment to the material on screen, then of course I hope I'm independent until the day I die.

Every artist has to make their own statements and they have to live with them.

I just want to make my music, and I want it to stand on its own.

I had a certain career as an actor that I think was quite personal as well, and had a lot of integrity, but I wasn't writing my own things or directing my own movies.

I started to make my own films, however small and however independent they were, from the beginning. And so, even though I was nobody, I was always the master of my own work.

I don't work to any commissions. I do what I want to do.

I believe in singing for my supper. I'll never accept a grant because what I do should be able to be founded purely on free enterprise.

I just want choices. It's not about making money and having a lot of friends in Hollywood; that's the last thing I want.

My films, no one else will do.

I won't read scripts because I have a limited amount of time. Why should I help other people do lame stuff when I can just go out and put on lame stuff of my own?

I don't necessarily love all the collaborations that I've done; the more I work with other people, the more I realize that I want to work with myself.

If you consider the definition of authenticity, it's saying something and actually doing it. I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic.

It's a luxury to not have to just be performing with other people to have my music heard.

I've tried to be more self-sufficient as I've gotten older. I'd like to not worry about whether they're going to sell my next album or book. Hell, William Blake wasn't even published in his lifetime.

I want to be a genuine artist who has a say in what I do.

I want everything that I've worked for to go into my pocket. I want all my money to come to me. I'm very much hands-on with my career, and I like to do what I want in the studio - I don't like being told, 'do it this way' or 'do it that way.'

Yes, I worked hard to put together an experimental show on a budget of zero. But I was not being exploited by anyone. I was in charge.

When I get to make a movie, I really try to make it on my own terms.

As an independent artist, you control the means of production, which is the ultimate form of empowerment.