My fans have been very loyal to me, so I want 'em into the mix every song. I don't want 'em having breaks on stuff I'm trying to push on them.
The fans are very, very loyal. They're always saying, 'When is the next album?' They know when I finish in the studio it's got to be a few years before the next album.
Ultimately, people do want to buy merch and tickets to support their favorite bands, but they don't want to feel like it's the only thing going on.
It was important to me to find a label that wouldn't back out after a first single. Everyone's so used to hearing me with Hootie, they're going to be skeptical.
I had a good record company right from the beginning, and I'm still with them after all these years. I think I may be the only person in the world that's had a tenure this long with any record company.
I have a lot of diehard fans. Ace Frehley fans and Kiss fans are the greatest fans in the world.
I try to have a real close connection with my fans. That's extremely important. They are the ones that have been there from the beginning and proved everyone else wrong.
I actually re-signed with Warner Bros. on my own. They've been really good to us and all the people over there are great; they love me and I love them. So I'm just sticking with them.
As long as the fans keep comin' out, we're gonna keep making records and keep being there.
Just because you like one song from an artist, that doesn't make you a fan.
I get love from fans in a big enough dosage that it acts as a shield, and I would not sacrifice that love in order to please the industry.
Once you can get a fan to listen to an album a handful of times and really have a lot of substance for them to grasp, then you're looking at having a fan that really appreciates what you do for life and can appreciate coming to see it live.
There used to be this real sense of community integrity in rock. It has really eroded. Everyone seems to be on their own now.
I hate it when bands do that; they're so proud of their new album, they have to play all of it and a couple of golden oldies.
I act for my fans. I expect them to enjoy my performance rather than starting fan clubs.
Our business model rises or falls on our ability to serve the artists. If others can do it better, the artists will go elsewhere.
There are people I'll always love to listen to, and I'm always ending up discovering new songs by them, which is crazy. Like Stevie Wonder.
If the heads of all the music companies had known about music and about Chris Rea fans, they wouldn't have worried about 'Stony Road.' My regular fans have always known that side of me.
The only thing I consider before signing a project is that my fans should like it. I understand my responsibility towards my fans.
Lady Antebellum will always be my focus.
I feel a loyalty to my favorite artists, and to have my fans feel that, for me, is a special bond because I've been there for so long.
Most people do their shows and get the hell out, and don't even care about the fans.
I think with certain artists you want to hear their album... and then there are other artists who I like where maybe it's more about the single. I don't think there is going to be one way that everything works.
As long as the fans keep wanting to hear new records from us every few years, we'll keep making them.
People aren't going to support an artist just because they have an audio file. They have to feel a real connection.
