When your head is smashing into the concrete you don't have question about whether it's a real sensation. And ultimately, that's what's going to unma….

Songwriting is an emotional medium, and rock and roll is an emotional medium..

A good writer can simulate a page torn out of somebody's diary, and give you every little voyeuristic thrill you might get from that, but actually te….

I never considered myself an Americana artist, but I'm a huge fan of old-time music from the States, the recordings that were made in the '20s and '3….

Culture dictated from above is the enemy of folk music. Whether it's stuffy classical music or pre-engineered pop where somebody's paid tons of money….

If I'm working on a set of songs, and thinking about putting them together in a collection, I start to think about what they have in common. Either o….

I wanted to be a filmmaker, actually, when I was in high school and college. But I just decided it would be more expensive to do, so I sort of decide….

It's a really common trap to want your life to live up to some standard that you believe in, and then you start to really examine those standards and….

If you were a performer that only had an acoustic instrument, back in the day you couldn't hide behind your guitar pedals or the production or the vi….

When people downloading records for free you start to think, "Is it worth spending all this money to make a record sound good, especially if it's goi….

In a lot of ways, the way you're making your bread and butter is off people who aren't necessarily who you're writing for..

What's funny about my voice is, no matter what I sing, I sound like I'm really sad. I don't even mean to do it, it's just something my voice has. I t….

I always think it's far more admirable to confuse people than it is to reassure them..

You have to pretend that you're not bothered by your record leaked early. So that's the tack that I'm taking. It's like if you're working in a store ….

I was always one of these people who is irrationally moved by stupid pop songs..

Collaboration is such a thrill when you're working with someone you really respect. When it's just one person working alone you get a singular view o….

I have complicated feelings about nostalgia. I think that sometimes it can be dangerous. It can airbrush the truth, or fictionalize the truth, which ….

When you're a songwriter, people wonder about your personal life and the meanings behind the songs, and that can feel pretty invasive, so you become ….

There's something really special about childhood. When you're a kid, you're at your most creative, and you're very plugged into your imagination and ….

Everybody has had the experience of something they love - whether it's a pop song or a painting or a movie - feeling so perfect to them that it's alm….

I'm not pro-life. I'm very emphatically pro-choice..