Writing music is just something that I was born to do.

All your travelling is together, you eat together, you're on stage as a band together, when you get to the sound-check the band and the crew are all together.

Classical, Romantic, and Baroque music, that's what I really like.

When you're on tour you definitely don't want lots of arguments. It's very important that everybody gets on because you're in close proximity a great deal of the time.

I am constantly being told that I have been a big influence for many people, including other musicians.

Right from day one, you know when you've written a good song.

Inspiration doesn't really work like that - you're not looking out for it. Inspiration is something that tends to capture you rather than you capture it.

It's a very organic process, and it has a specific order to it. I love to write, and once you've written, then you arrange. After the arrangement, you record it, and then you tour it.

This band - because this is myself on electric and acoustic guitars - we've done three tours together now and I really, really like it which is why I did the DVD as well.

My mother bought a piano, put it in the front room, and I just started writing my songs.

Whichever age you are, that's the best age. I'm a very "now" person.

Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it.

Beware of speaking too much, for it increases mistakes and engenders boredom.

Do you have a dream or desire that is burning a hole in your soul? Something that lights your fire and brings you simple pleasure?

Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.

Outside your door, the world is waiting. Inside your heart, a voice is calling. The four corners of the world are watching. So travel, daughter, travel. Go get it, girl.

I'm looking for a balance of reported and essayistic work by up-and-coming women journalists. Often that means combing online-only sources or alt weeklies.

I write because I want more than one life; I insist on a wider selection. It's greed, plain and simple.

Why would anybody not own a gun?

What I eat turns into my body. What I read turns into my mind.

The prescription for endless war poses a far greater danger to Americans than perceived enemies do, for reasons the terrorist organisations understand very well.