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I grew up with Al Jarreau. We had a band together and worked these places for three years when neither one of us knew we could make a living doing music.

I'm interested in good collaborations and in working with directors who bring something new and interesting out of you.

I got a chance to work with Miles Davis, and that changed everything for me, 'cause Miles really encouraged all his musicians to reach beyond what they know, go into unknown territory and explore. It's made a difference to me and the decisions that I've made over the years about how to approach a project in this music.

I try to do collaborations with as many artists as possible. It's really excellent and fun to actually work with another songwriter.

My best artist friend is definitely Jason Aldean. He and I really get along great and are really great friends. It's fun to tour with a buddy and somebody that I just enjoy hanging out with. If we weren't touring together, we'd be hunting in the off-season still and knocking around doing stuff, certainly.

I love to collaborate with artists, like Guy Bourdin and Steven Klein, who don't have any boundaries.

I want to be remembered as one of the best record producers of my era.

To be honest, producing records interests me less at the moment and I really don't want to get involved in album projects that are going to take up a lot of time.