Les Pauls work out real well for me because I'll beat the hell out of them and they'll still work. The only trouble with them is finding good ones.
Tommy Shaw

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

On acoustic guitar I tend to stay in the key of D for some reason. On electric guitar I keep basic: C, G, D, and A. The key of D minor is also real good for me.
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 many mercenaries out there already.
Tommy Shaw

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

Success is fickle, but creativity is a gift.
Tommy Shaw

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

Timing is everything.
Tommy Shaw

We were playing popular music, but we were doing our own arrangements because we were too lazy to sit down and figure out the originals.
Tommy Shaw

We're kind of defined by our mistakes.
Tommy Shaw

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

When I became 16 I started thinking seriously about singing.
Tommy Shaw

When I was about 3, my grandfather used to give me and my sister a nickel to sit out on the front porch with him and sing songs.
Tommy Shaw

When it stops being fun, stop.
Tommy Shaw

When you sign with a label, they do insist upon certain rights, and if you have a competent attorney, your rights will be protected.
Tommy Shaw

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