You have to be able to listen. You have got to listen to the singer and give them what they need to sound good.

I don't really think of myself as a folk singer.

[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say.

Quiet your mind, Soak it all in, It's a game you can't win, Enjoy the ride. At the end of the water, A red sun is risin', And the stars are all goin' away, And if you're too busy talkin', You're not busy listenin', To hear what the land has to say.

At Garvin High we were dealt a hard dose of reality this year. People hate. That's our reality. People hate and are hated and carry grudges and want punishments ... I don't know if it's possible to take hate away from people. Not even people like us, who've seen firsthand what hate can do. We're all hurting. We're all going to be hurting for a long time. And we, probably more than anyone else out there, will be searching for a new reality every day. A better one ... But in order to change reality you have to be willing to listen and to learn. And to hear. To actually hear.

I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't been able to hear.