Stevie Ray talked about learning amazing solos from Hendrix in his dreams, but he could never remember them when he woke up.

I have this happen every once in a while, and I love it. That state between sleeping and full wakefulness is one of my favorite things to experience because of things like this, hearing music, and also being much more creative. I've learned to stay in the state for a decent while - seemingly lengthening it from seconds to a number of minutes - by keeping my mind relaxed/loose. (The state of transitioning from wakefulness to sleep is also nice, but it seems less readily "useful" in this way.)

As someone that wouldn't regularly consider themselves a musician, hearing music out of nowhere is super cool but weird.

For some reason I could count on getting into that state fairly regularly when I went home to visit my parents and slept on a slightly uncomfortable spare bed in their house. The exact reason is a bit of a mystery to me. I suspect a mixture of factors come together to make it more likely.

I tend to have two kinds of musical dreams: there are those when my fingers are magic and everything comes out amazing and those when everything comes out awful. I think I've managed to retain a dream melody once or twice.

Recently I dreamt a poem that was absolutely amazing but when I woke up it had melted away even before I awoke. I have some dribs and drabs of it that I'm trying to reassemble into something coherent.

Were you disturbed by a person from Porlock?

Yes. Later the authorities determined I was merely a poet and thus not a concern.

This is why Keith Richards kept a tape recorder by his bed. "Satisfaction" started this way.