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Continued from page 56 they’re gonna use my song.” And then the next day, “Ah, they didn’t like my song. They cut the scene from the show.” It’s a rollercoaster ride of uncertainty, and it’s very hard to deal with. So I think that having faith in what you’re doing is the biggest, hardest part of all of this. Yeah, you can learn, you can have talent, you can have opportunities, you can have people helping you, but still, at the end of the day, it’s two o’clock in the morning, and you wake up and you wonder, “Is this what I can do?” I gotta tell ya, it happens to me all the time. I woke up this morning at 3:30 and thought, “I’m going to TAXI for my friend Michael Laskow, and they’re gonna talk about stuff that I’ve done that I never talk about.” I told him I didn’t want to do this. I’ve never done anything ever like this. I come here and speak— it’s all great—but I’m thinking, “What’s going to happen next year? Am I going to be making good records next year? Should I be making records next year?” So the bottom line for all of us is that you have to have faith and belief in yourself, and, hopefully, those around you will support you in that regard and give you moral support. But it’s a tough thing, and if we all kind of think together about it and have faith in each other, that’s the biggest help you can have. It’s hard for us to be doing what we’re doing, and I applaud you for coming here and spending time to do this and work on something that you love and try to learn and try to pitch, and try to get opportunities. That’s what it’s all about. And just continue to have faith—faith in yourself and faith in what you’re doing. It doesn’t mean you have to have one road to get to where you’re going; it can be lots of different roads. You can be working in different businesses, and this is something that you do—I’m not going to say as a hobby but as another part of your life. That’s fine too. There’s no rule. It’s the faith part that’s the big deal. And, of course, coupled with that is one other thing: have some fun with it. Music is a great thing. You’re sitting around with a guitar or a piano and there’s one person there, or you’re alone, five people, a hundred people, whatever it happens to be—have some fun with it. Music is to be enjoyed, music is celebratory. [applause] I forgot to present you with this check for $2,500 when we were talking about charitable works. Would you like to tell our audience where it’s going to go? Michael is gracious enough to give this nice check, and it’s going to go to two places. It’s

going to go to City of Hope Pediatrics—I’ve done a lot of work out there. And the other is for my dear friend, Stephen Cannell, who just passed away, for cancer research for his foundation at St. John’s Hospital. You know, if Stephen was sitting here talking… Maybe a lot of you don’t know, but Stephen Cannell was a television producer and writer, and he did 30, 40 different incredible shows—an incredible guy. He would sit with somebody, and he would just be all too happy to tell them about stuff—“You could do this, or you could do that.” He was just the greatest, most humble guy in the world. I took my daughter, who had been writing—she wrote a novel—to see Stephen a year or so ago, and he was kind enough to give her tips and pointers—all the

kinds of things that you guys get here for the music. The world needs people like that, and when you guys are having your success, you need to do it for other people too. When you guys are achieving your dreams, share your dreams with other people, because they want to dream. This is all about dreams and fun and faith. It’s a mixed-up business, but we’re all mixed up in the same thing. Thank you, thank you. [applause] Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Michael Lloyd! And I want to see all you guys Sunday when I come back here and we talk about your records and your music [on the Producers panel]. Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you so much. [applause]

Recording - March 2011

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