This is Eric Glass.

On This American Life, we like stories that surprise you.

For instance, imagine finding a new hobby and realizing...

To do this hobby right, according to the ways of the masters,

there's a pretty good chance that you're going to have to bend the law to get the materials that you need.

If not, break it.

Yeah.

To break international laws.

Your life stories, really good ones.

This American Life.

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of maximum fun.org and is distributed by NPR.

It's Bullseye. I'm Jesse Thorne.

My guest, the musician Bill Withers, was born in a place called Slab Fork, West Virginia.

He grew up in a town next door called Beckley.

The music industry seemed a long way away. It wasn't some place where you could have long-range dreams, not for me anyway.

There was nothing that suited me there.

I mean, everybody worked in the coal mines.

In other words, you can't aspire to certain things in certain places because they don't exist.

You know, now if I go around people say, what advice do you have to young people that want to be in show business?

First of all, you've got to get out of here.

Nobody's going to come in and get you.

It ain't here, you know.

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