Do ever get frustrated about the way the music industry works?
Doss: I know there is a group out there who appreciates it. The people who have been there from the (grass) roots up, those are the people you have to pay homage to, so it doesn’t bother me at all. The people who are doing the kind of music that I do are not going to go away. I’m not looking for anyone who doesn’t appreciate what I’m doing. I’m right where I need to be. Q: Why are so many young soul singers influenced by the music of Donny Hathaway? Doss: Well, I’ll tell you this, I can remember being around six or seven and my mother playing “The Ghetto” and I’m like ‘who is this’ and she said Donny Hathaway. I would listen to it. I would pick (the record up) – back then it was 45s – and playing it over and over. I remember the area where I was living at. I was living in East Cleveland, and listening to that song and I could relate to what he was talking about in the song, and it hit close to home. That kind of music is timeless when it speaks to the soul. That’s why it’s called soul
