The Beatles were my first love. My friend John Zimmer's oldest brother was kicked out of his house, and his parents put all of his stuff in the basement, where it was getting destroyed by flood waters. He had about fifteen Beatles records. So I stole the whole stack -- lovingly put paper towels between each of them. For over a year I listened to nothing but the Beatles. It was my music school.

I have really early memories of life, so don't freak out. As a child I'd get caught up in how words didn't make any sense. I remember hearing the song 'She'll …

At a talent show in sixth grade at Christ the King, my Catholic school in Seattle. I remember being incredibly nervous and also bringing the house down. Teache…

Oh god, that was like f--king 1112 years ago. Do you miss it?

I learned music listening to Elvis' records. His measurable effect on culture and music was even greater in England than in the States.

It is a happy thing that there is no royal road to poetry. The world should know by this time that one cannot reach Parnassus except by flying thither.

'For me,' he explains his mammoth project, 'it is an obligation to know and learn to understand the various styles living within the guitar, to work with them …