Butch Trucks

When we're playing, when we're really, really going... you're just in the moment. You're not thinking about yesterday, tomorrow, or anything else. The brain gets out of the way. Your body just does what it knows how to do, and it's just... it's like a religion.

Of all the songs we played, 'Statesboro Blues' was the most ripped-off.

If there's anybody who knew how to play in a studio, it was Duane Allman.

Once we started headlining at the Fillmore East, we were free to play all night, at least for the second set. 'Whipping Post' could get lengthy.

When I play, I stare at the left hand of whoever is playing lead. And I get to know what people are playing well enough that when they start going somewhere, once they arrive, I'm already there.

After being away from it for so long, it's really nice to go out and have 10- or 15,000 people show up and enjoy it. It leaves you with a very good feeling.

This is show business, and there's room for the shows and the personalities. But I think there's also room for music, for people to play music, and there seems to be an audience developing that's willing to go listen to music again, rather than just be blown away by drum machines and choreography.

Listen to John Coltrane. When he plays 'A Love Supreme,' that guy is totally into himself.

You're playing for yourself. And if you're not playing for yourself, you're an entertainer, doing it for the crowd.

When we started Allman Brothers, Atlantic Records kept telling us there was no way it was going anywhere.

When we started the Allman Brothers, it was all about the music.

When I listened to Elvin Jones, man, for the first time I heard a drummer that had all the technique plus emotion, passion, feel, and just - good God!

One that really caught me was Joe Morello. He was the first drummer I ever saw that could do a roll with one hand. He would turn his hand over and use his fingertips to get the stick bouncing. He could sit there with his right hand doing stuff on the cymbals and tom-toms while he was doing a roll with his left on the snare drum.

I have done nothing my entire life but play music.

When we started the Allman Brothers Band, there was this great new technology that allowed us to get exposure: FM radio.

There are so many good, young bands out there who aren't getting the attention they deserve.

People feel entitled to take whatever's online without paying for it.

We're a live band. It's what we do best.

I don't think we listened to any rock n' roll at all in the early days. It was Miles Davis and John Coltrane 95% of the time.

I'm enjoying the hell out of playing straight. It seems to be the case with everybody. We're having a lot more fun. The energy is going into the music now, instead of all the side trips we got into in the '70s.