Creativity Quote by Leo Kottke

The most radical thing a virtuoso can say is: relax. Coming from Leo Kottke, a guitarist whose “effortless” sound is built on frightening precision, “not to try too hard” lands as both practical advice and quiet misdirection. It’s not an anti-ambition shrug; it’s a warning about the particular way striving can distort art. Try too hard and your hands tighten, your timing gets self-conscious, your choices turn performative. The music stops being a conversation with the instrument and becomes a TED Talk about your own talent.

Kottke’s phrasing is tellingly casual: “Yeah,” “the first thing that comes to mind.” He’s deflating the myth of genius-as-torture without making a manifesto out of it. That understatement fits a musician who emerged from a lineage where authenticity mattered and flash was suspect, especially in the long shadow of guitar heroics. In the acoustic world Kottke helped define, showing off is easy; making complexity feel inevitable is the hard part.

The subtext is also about audience and ego. “Trying” often means trying to be perceived a certain way: profound, original, flawless. Kottke’s point is that the listener can hear that agenda. “Not to try too hard” becomes a discipline: practice ferociously offstage, then onstage get out of your own way. It’s an artistic ethic disguised as a throwaway line, the kind that separates musicians who impress from musicians who invite you in.