Nashville's like any other hometown - after a while, it's stifling.

I think a lot of men are afraid of pretty things, and I'm not, I like pretty songs.

My parents split up when I was about 2. I realize more and more how much I'm like my father. My gentleness comes from my mother.

What I'm doing is basically the same as Bob Dylan did with folk songs and Woody Guthrie songs, the same as folk music's always done. I'm not going to sing about ploughing, but I'll write a song that sounds like it should be about ploughing.

You have to live what you write, or you have to know it. There are exceptions, like story songs, where you just have to have your facts straight. But I think you don't have to live a hard life to be a good or interesting songwriter.

I didn't get into music to become a blues musician, or a country musician. I'm a singer-songwriter. In my book that means I get to do whatever I want.