I don't try to stop myself from becoming too personal. I just put it all out there. If anything, I try to remind myself to be as honest as possible all the time. Why hold back?

I love the sad songs with their maudlin, self-deprecating, almost funny lyrics. As an Englishman, they make a lot of sense.

Most artists never get a chance to be Picasso, but that doesn't mean you would stop painting.

The state of radio is not great. It's like playing the lottery. The chances of hitting are mind boggling slim.

I come from a place where there's a lot of musical families.

I'm never worried about being upstaged. I love to have the best, most individual people come in and see if we hit on something.

For a long time I was trying to be poppier and younger. I didn't want to be on public radio or do any of that stuff for older people. Then I realized that that is exactly what I listen to.

Country music was the music I was brought up on. It's the music that's closest to my heart and the music that speaks to me the most, and it's always been a big influence on my own songwriting.

Everyone's different, but it was fun for me to work with Garth Hudson. He's from 'The Band.' They are a massive influence, that was a big thrill. He's completely out of his mind.

I do think it's probably true to a certain extent that you tend to sing music that fits your voice. If you're Lou Reed, you're unlikely to become a country singer.

Even for the people in the business who are real music lovers it's really about putting things in the right boxes, and my style doesn't fit into a box.

The man of action has the present, but the thinker controls the future.

Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure.

We in the press, by our power, can actually undermine leadership.

The people who are slamming me have no idea about what it feels like to unjustly have a child killed in an insane war.

The way i see it, love is just a bigger, stickier form of trust.

Truth and non-violence are not cloistered virtues but applicable as much in the forum and the legislatures as in the market place.

...think of agriculture as something the grasses did to people to conquer the trees.

A writer is someone who writes!

Most jobs are outsourced to the past, they aren't outsourced to India or Mexico or Pakistan or anywhere else.

The subject of an outsider who becomes obsessed.