Question and Answer

Which of your recordings remains closest to you and why?

that is a hard question. of course all of them are special to me for different reasons, they function as the musical markers for me of different bands, different musical interests, and even the different periods of my life. yet, at the same time, i feel like records are overrated as a way of defining musicians and their careers. in my case, i have made 20 something records, yet have literally played thousands of concerts around the world during the same time. each concert for me has been given the same energy as each record. some have been better than others in both departments, but records are permanent and concerts happen once and then are gone forever and are thus forgotten. i really feel like the "in concert" thing for a long time, especially in the early years was way better than the records indicate, but the gap between the two has narrowed, i think, as we've gotten better at making records and have had more freedom to do it the way we always wanted. ok, having said all that, let me answer the question!!!

right now, (and this changes all the time) i would say that "secret story" and "beyond the missouri sky" both have a special place for me and always will. "bright size life" and "question and answer" seem to be good. "as falls wichita, so falls wichita falls" also seems to have worn well. "the sign of 4" is a really special one. same with " song x" . the two live records, " travels" and " the road to you" are ones that i feel real close to. and i think "imaginary day" is the best studio group record we have done along with "first circle". if you were to ask me tomorrow, i may say something else....