Anthony Wilson

I was always exposed to music. Mom and dad would have the radio on constantly.

Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them.

Players are coming from other backgrounds: rock, folk, ethnic music. It’s changing Jazz for the better.

Difference between sex and love? Well, you’re not always sure you’re in love. But when you’re having sex, there’s really no mistaking it.

My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being.

[on B. B. King] Very seldom does he talks about the way he play, man. He always wanna talk about young women. And I fuss at him sometimes, I say, ‘Man I wanna know what did you do here!’

Playing the guitar is like telling the truth – you never have to worry about repeating the same [lie] if you told the truth. You don’t have to pretend, or cover up. If someone asks you again, you don’t have to think about it or worry about it because there it is. It’s you.

The greatest thing about music is putting it out there for people to figure out.

People will always need love, romance, a tender touch and really personal and deeply felt music.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

Everyone is working who should be.

I always make it a point to pick songs on which players really shine.

When I was coming up, I practiced all the time because I thought if I didn’t I couldn’t do my best.

It’s part of what the blues does, to write about these things. JB Lenoir was the main one in this regard – he wrote about Korea, too, in fact. Songs that reflect these current situations – in his case, racial issues for the most part: in my case, what has happened to me, and I was in Korea.

I did go through a trial-and-error period where I tried out lots of different guitars, but within a couple of years I was right back to the Les Paul. From that point it’s stayed with me ever since. I have other guitars—and I love a lot of them—but I’m most at home on a Les Paul. It’s interesting: most of the time I would even rather make a Les Paul do the things those other guitars do. From the get-go, the Les Paul spoke to me.