Tom Jones – HuffPost 4.22.13

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Tom Jones: First of all, to listen as much as possible to different things. Don’t copy. Try not to listen to one person or to one style of music and copy it because then, you’re going to sound like somebody else. Try to find yourself, what you really want to do, the way you really want to sing, and stick to that. Be true to yourself because there is only one of you and you’ve got to be true to yourself. If you’re not, then you’ll always fake it, and then you won’t enjoy it. If you’re true to yourself, you’ll have a ball. It’s a great business to be in if you are yourself,

MR: And what was the best advice that you ever received?

TJ: The first advice was when I was working in a paper mill as a young boy. This old man said to me, “I hear that you can sing.” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Well, why don’t you give it a shot?” I said, “I am, I’m just trying to figure out how to get into it.” This old fellow said, “Look, you go out there and give it the best shot you possibly can because you can always come back and do this. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t.” He had been in the British Army and been all over the world and had a great life, and he said, “When you’re old like me what you have left are memories. Make sure they’re good ones.” That’s the advice that I took from this old chap, and I still believe that. I would say to any young performer who isn’t sure, “Yes. Try it. Give it your best shot, and if you fail, you fail, but at least you tried.”