You have to have passion.

My goal when I started was to play arenas with just my accordion.

TMBG is one of the main reasons I play accordion in the first place.

Everyone who is a comedian or an actor or a musician have many people who influenced them. They in turn influence others. It is a great thing that is handed down. We need to know our history because our art is created from the re-imaginings from our minds with the seeds of the greats who combined as a potpourri in our heads to create something new. You can see it in my stand up. You can hear it in the music of today

When you look at what we trot out there and you look at our physical stature you'd think, well, I don't know. But we do play awfully well together and we've got some basketball skills; we can pass it, we can shoot it and we try to guard you. When you've won 21 ballgames in January, you've got to be a pretty good team.

There is more that unites us than divides us. So make it a point to talk with someone who is different from you. You may find that you have more in common than you think