John Fahey Quotes

There is something about guitars—maybe something magical—when played right, which evokes past, mysterious, barely-conscious sentiments, both individual and universal.

I had a big background in listening to classical music and I started trying to compose, like I was playing the guitar but I heard an orchestra in my head.

When I play, I very quickly put myself into a light hypnotic trance and compose while playing, drawing directly from the emotions.

But I say these things in an objective dispassionate manner because, you know, and I can't explain why, but being one of the greatest guitarists in the world simply is not very important to me.

Early Bluegrass is my favorite kind of music, not to many people know that.

How can I be a folk? I'm from the suburbs you know.

The other thing in composition is opening up the unconscious.

I just want to be treated like an average guy.

From a social perspective, I am looking for friends, not acolytes.

I was using them as teachers for technique but I was never trying to be a folk.

Well folks, that's about it for the show tonight.

As for fame, it can go to your head and you can become full of yourself.

So I learnt a few country western songs, I bought a chord book, and right away I started writing my own stuff, which nobody else did that, I don't know why.

Well I was on the one hand, the more I played the guitar the more I began to really love the guitar and to love virtually any kind of music that anybody played well on guitar.

Being worshipped is a horrible experience.

I also know that I am not a great technician.

More American young people can tell you where an island that the 'Survivor' TV series came from is located than can identify Afghanistan or Iraq. Ironically a TV show seems more real or at least more meaningful interesting or relevant than reality.

I thought I'd be wasting my time to go to commercial record companies and make demos for them, because don't forget, I was doing what I was doing and nobody understood what I was doing.

See my father knew a lot about music, he played the piano and he would do theory and stuff like that, but I didn't learn anything from him, but I played that for him and he liked it a lot.