Lyle Lovett

Growing up, the last thing I ever thought I'd do is be an entertainer.

Women always go through the door first. Even ardent feminists would admit it's nice. It's not an acknowledgment of women as the weaker sex; it's perhaps an acknowledgment of women as the stronger sex.

Fortunately, I've never had a job.

Dad often told me, 'My job is to help my boss do his job and make him look good.' That was my dad's objective. Everything about the way he conducted himself was to communicate support for his superiors and respect for his coworkers. The way he dressed was his starting point in that communication.

My music has always been sort of in between categories. Sometimes record stores - back when there were record stores - they'd put my records in the country music section, but other record stores would put my records in the pop or even the rock section. As long as it's in the store somewhere, I'm OK with it.

Every crowd is different. But that's something that I enjoy, and you can feel it in the first few seconds when you walk out on stage. You know, how a crowd is.

Records are very powerful promotional tools to go out and be able to play on the road, but you do have to think about it as a way of sustaining itself at some point.

Songwriters aren't always performers, and even performing songwriters aren't always the kind of show-biz performers you think they'd be.

I'm not really a competitive person, and I'm not naturally comfortable in front of people.

I've always thought that writing isn't really that hard. It's having a good idea that's hard.

I'm really in no danger of being perceived as a famous movie actor!

It's important to be successful enough to be able to keep doing what you love.