In your mid-30s, you have to take inventory, or you'll stumble.

When you make a solo record, it's you. It's your name. It has to be the right songs for how you feel.

You just have to take control of your own performance.

That is the true joy of being a solo artist. I can do whatever I want. I can go wherever I want. I can show up with my guitar and my song, and it can sound a hundred different ways. That's the freedom of being on your own. The flipside is: That's you on the cover. If it sucks, it's your fault.

I've always tried to get around writing love songs, I guess because I've always had a hard time saying, 'I love you.'

It's funny how a song can start in your mind, and then when it goes through all the filters, it ends up in a totally different spot.