right um interesting the new album coming out by keith urban has got a version of summer breeze on it right you know keith urban you think it's easier to classify him as being a country guy yeah but he's got a soft side of it sure he's got a track with michael mcdonald you know on his new album yeah and it is really really good sure very soulful um so it is really interesting to hear your view that you're bringing in the elements as you need to bring them in rather than saying this is soulful sound because the net result will be your uniqueness, right?

Absolutely.

I also teach, I'm a part-time music professor at a college called CBU out in California and I try to encourage my students to listen to everybody and be able to imitate everybody and that's not to say that you want to copy them it's more to internalize your influences and then no one's going to process that or digest that if you will like you so if everyone does that all the classics had people that influenced them And the way that you process that, the way that you digest that, it will come out you, you know, if that makes sense.

I can listen to so many artists and, I mean, even like one of my favorites, Pat Metheny, you know, you'll talk to him and he'll say, even though his music doesn't sound anything like the Beatles, his biggest influence was the Beatles.

And yet he takes that and...

he reinterprets what he was, you know, listening to Hendrix and listening to the Beatles, and somehow it comes out Pat Metheny.

It's crazy how that works.

it?

Because the net result will be your uniqueness, right?

Absolutely.

I also teach.

I'm a part-time music professor at a college called CBU out in California.

And I try to encourage my students to listen to everybody and be able to imitate everybody.

And that's not to say that you want to copy them.

It's more to internalize your influences.

I'm looking