Hank Junior fans are Skynyrd fans.
— Johnny Van Zant
To me, making a CD is like writing a book.
I kinda feel that my brother wrote some of the best country lyrics ever - 'The Ballad of Curtis Loew,' 'Mississippi Kid' and that little hit 'Sweet Home Alabama.'
People are asking us, 'Why have you gone country?' And we say, 'Man, we were born country.' They gave us the tag 'Southern rock' years ago as a way of not saying country.
It is a scary world out there, and believe me that if someone were to try to come into my house, I want to be able to protect myself.
I'm very proud to be from Jacksonville.
We have to make a living, sure, but it's about the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd and what it stands for, what the fans are all about.
My dad was a truck driver, and from the time I was knee high to a grapevine, I was driving a truck.
It's for the common people, people who have made this great country of ours. That's what the heck I say we always write about.
In my opinion, the only people who should have handguns are the police.
We always joke that our road crew will have to wheelchair us up onstage soon because this is what we do. This is what we love to do. This is what God put us on earth to do until the day we take our last breath.
I saw B.B. King in concert one time where he had this guy that would bring him out a glass of water and towel to wipe his forehead with.
This is America, and everybody should have a right to say what they want to say. But I think there's a time and a place for it.
Johnny Colt is a character, and most people in Lynyrd Skynyrd are characters, so he fits in great with us. He's got an attitude, man, and I love it, and that's what we need.
That's your end goal anyway, is to make the fans happy.
The last thing we want to do is disappoint the fans.
We have a lot of friends who are hunters. And you know what? Come hunting season, man, they head to the woods, you know. And again, this country was built on God and guns, folks. I mean, it really was.
So many artists try to be something that they're not.
I want to be there for the last note of 'Freebird' when that happens.
I'm a lover of old traditional country - George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Marty Roberts.
Skynyrd is a big family. We have argued, fussed, and fought.
Families do not stop living. We have got to keep going on. This is what people do.
We write stories about common people and common things. That's what Skynyrd always is about - the real working class of America.
Lynyrd Skynyrd has always been a bunch of rowdy, crazy people, but we love our fans, and that's what the music is all about: touching them. Touching them touches us.
Every redneck's dream is to write a song and have it go on a fishing show.
We write about things that we've done or things that have happened to people around us.
We're musicians; we're not politicians or anything.
If you're only a fan of the old music, that music's gonna wind up sounding even older.
Music is a great healer.
I didn't know if Skynyrd fans were going to throw rocks at me or eggs or what.
Two of my favorite bands, Blackberry Smoke and Black Stone Cherry, I just think both of those bands are a good new progressive kind of Southern Rock that's a little different than us but still has a rootsy thing going on.
Skynyrd's not just a band; I think it's a lifestyle. It's iconic.
The fans have always been there for us, and they've realized when we were going through a hard time.
When we were kids, we said the Pledge of Allegiance because we were proud of this country, and we said prayer. You know, we thanked the good Lord above.
As Christians, it's our duty to stand up for what we believe - that's called testifying.
Some of the country stuff in the past has been so polished - if you were a guy with a nice pair of jeans, a big belt buckle and nice hat, you were country.
Skynyrd just hasn't gotten its just due.
We are not saying that every idiot out there should own a gun - and there should be better background checks on guns. Not everybody should have the right.
We don't get home enough.
I just love going out and playing my brother's songs.
I actually quit the business. I went and drove a truck for a year and a half.
When you're 17, touring is fun.
We go to Europe, and they think we're totally prejudiced 'cause we hang the bars and stripes. But for us, the bars and stripes doesn't mean we want to see anybody in slavery or anything like that. It's just our heritage. To us, the bars and stripes means grits, 'y'all,' and the beauty of the South. There's no prejudice at all in that with us.
If people want to own a rifle or something like that for hunting purposes only, I tend to agree with that. But semi-automatic weapons and handguns, that's just unreal. I mean, what good are handguns?
I was a Skynyrd fan all along. But I was also the brother of the lead singer who passed on. I just didn't want to do anything that would harm the band's name.
You don't go to some other country and bash our president.
We've done shows with Tim McGraw, Hank Williams Jr., Montgomery Gentry, Shooter Jennings.
Everybody in Lynyrd Skynyrd loves different styles of music, and our minds are very open when it comes to writing our songs and making the band true to what the band is, but also stepping out and doing something current.
They're great songs. How many bands wouldn't like to have a 'Freebird' or 'Sweet Home Alabama' to play every night?
If nothing else, we grew up loving the old blues artists and Ray Charles.
