I feel that energy up there on stage. The band, the crew and our road family - the look in their eyes - they're so happy to be back doing what we love to do.
To bring the fans into the world of being like part of the crew through things like cell phone cases, making them feel like they are on tour with their favorite band is a cool thing.
Winning on the road is always great. If you ask anyone, there's nothing like going into a building with your crew and trying to get a win.
I always talk to all the crew. I always make it pleasant. I always nurture a relationship that makes people feel like they're important, like they're a part of the collaboration. I feel that way about the young actors on set. I don't talk to them like I'm the mentor; I talk to them like they're my peers. And I learned that from Meryl Streep.
When you are in a band for a number of years you loose your identity in a way. You become a part of that band and then all of a sudden you are not part of that band. You are still the band without the other two members.
Shellac was asked to do a recreation of our first album, but we've always been a band that improvised our sets. That's critical to the way that we function on stage. Whatever the mood takes us on stage can vary from night to night with what you feel like playing.
All your travelling is together, you eat together, you're on stage as a band together, when you get to the sound-check the band and the crew are all together.
On stage, I feel like I'm invincible, like nothing bad can happen. I can be myself. I feel like I shrink when I'm off stage.
I love the rehearsal, as long as it's not over-rehearsed. I love it when the actors can rehearse until we feel really comfortable, and then the crew come in and shoot it. I'm not especially a big fan of rehearsing with the crew and the crew rehearsing and, "Let's rehearse this tracking dolly shot 25 times until it's just right." Television has to be shot a certain way to have a certain look. And sometimes the tried-and-true method is the best.
I really enjoy being with the people I play with. I enjoy their company. I love the crew, the band - we just move through the country like an army. I always feel very grateful to be up there. There aren't any bad nights anymore unless I'm singing bad, but then the band will carry me. And if they're playing bad, I will carry them..
My name is on the thing, but the reality of it is, when I get up there on stage, I'm part of a band. I'm part of a unit. It's like a basketball team.
When we are out on the road, running up and down the road playing shows, you have to be not only a member of a band but, especially with Lynyrd Skynyrd, you have to be a part of the Skynyrd nation. You have to be a part of the family.
As Andy says, being in this band in the early 1980s made you feel like you were part of a pizza. We were always one of the band, one of Duran Duran, or one of the Taylors.
At rehearsals, I began conducting the band, counting them in without thinking. I guess it came from watching salsa legends like my uncle and Tito Puente, who was very much the leader of his band on stage.
It comes down to building your own world out here on the road. It's who you surround yourself with. My band and crew are really positive guys.
The International Girl Crew isn't supposed to be super exclusive - that's a really important part of our brand and message. It's not just our crew - it's a lifestyle. It's for everybody to know how empowering it is to be surrounded by friends who motivate and support you and who you feel like you can exchange ideas with and do projects with.