When I'm onstage, I'm completely comfortable, and I feel very vital and alive.

All the folks I play with come from jazz backgrounds or at least appreciate spontaneity within the parameters of a pop song.

The real drag is trying to fly from country to country, day of show, with all your gear. You get hassled all the time. It's hard trying to keep it together.

The problem is, when you're working with orchestras, you only get the orchestra for about two hours before the performance to pull it all together, and that doesn't sound like a real collaboration.

I'm coming from a place that's more experimental and indulgent already, so for the last 10 years, it's been more like, "How can I defend my own sensibilities by writing a nugget of a little catchy pop song?" That's how I'm stretching myself, by writing something really simple.

The earth almost looks like it's packed down and dense from so many feet treading over it.

The way I work, I'm not a confessional singer-songwriter.