John Fahey Quotes

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

John Fahey

#2. As soon as the groupie finds out that you make errors in everyday life like everybody else does and that you are human, they turn on you and hate you.

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

#6. 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.

John Fahey

#7. 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.

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

#10. Well when I made my first record I thought it would be a good joke to have me on one side, have the lable say John Fahey on one side, and this guy Blind Joe Death on the other side.

John Fahey

#11. I also know that I am not a great technician.

John Fahey

#12. 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.

John Fahey

#13. Being worshipped is a horrible experience.

John Fahey

#14. 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.

John Fahey

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

John Fahey

#16. Regarding fame, fortune and Oregon I do wish I had more money.

John Fahey

#17. The other thing in composition is opening up the unconscious.

John Fahey

#18. 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.

John Fahey

#19. I just want to be treated like an average guy.

John Fahey

#20. 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.

John Fahey

#21. 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.

John Fahey

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

John Fahey