There is an apocryphal story James Mangold and Gill Dennis included in their screenplay for the film Walk the Line in which Johnny Cash auditions for an impatient Sam Phillips, the head of Sun Records. Phillips cuts Johnny off saying, “If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing one song. One song that people would remember before you’re dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin’ me that’s the song you’d sing? Or...would you sing somethin’ different. Somethin’ real. Somethin’ you felt. Cause I’m telling you right now, that’s the kind of song people want to hear. That’s the kind of song that truly saves people.” The real Sam Phillips likely never said this, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent advice to any artist in any field. Make it count.
—Eric Simonoff of William Morris Endeavor