Tommy Shaw

I love the idea of stepping out of the band situation into a solo world with no boundaries, no expectations, where nothing…

— Tommy Shaw

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will…

— Tommy Shaw

I soon gave up instruction for self-teaching

— Tommy Shaw

I'm not the kind of guy who deserves to play a vintage guitar because I'm too rough on instruments.

— Tommy Shaw

We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure…

— Tommy Shaw

Songwriting is the other weight on the opposite side of the scale from touring. They balance me out creatively.

— Tommy Shaw

When it stops being fun, stop.

— Tommy Shaw

There were some older guitarists on my side of town, and I got to know many of them

— Tommy Shaw

If music became extinct now, I dont know what Id be good for.

— Tommy Shaw

Make sure you know what you are signing when you sign a recording contract.

— Tommy Shaw

I have always been a sucker for the big, upbeat chorus.

— Tommy Shaw

When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing.

— Tommy Shaw

You can have fun, but you also have to put on your thinking cap every day

— Tommy Shaw

If music became extinct now, I don't know what I'd be good for.

— Tommy Shaw

Once you start thinking about it in a mercenary frame of mind, then you're finished. You're a joke, because there are too…

— Tommy Shaw

I don't like looking back.

— Tommy Shaw

I never did heroin, because I thought that meant I was doing heavy drugs, which shows you the insanity of doing drugs.…

— Tommy Shaw

I wrote songs all my life, where anyone wanted to hear them or not

— Tommy Shaw

By the time I did that third solo album, I'd finally learned how to do it, but I'd also learned that I…

— Tommy Shaw

As a solo artist, I just felt cemented in front of the mike stand. There was very little time to play with…

— Tommy Shaw

I feel like I have the greatest life an artist could dream of

— Tommy Shaw

I wish I had a nickel for every song that I've left in the bathroom, written down on a matchbox, or just…

— Tommy Shaw

When a song gets its legs and begins to come to me, this is the euphoric hook that keeps me wanting to…

— Tommy Shaw

I was born in Alabama and my first live music experiences were in church. Every Sunday we watched regional gospel groups on…

— Tommy Shaw

I like being on the road, living in hotels. While I've got a real nice house, I go crazy when I'm there.

— Tommy Shaw