But I really do have a soft spot for the solo shows. Any musician who writes and sings will tell you that's the center of it, that is it. It's almost like there's something church-like about it and you gotta go back there, if you're a songwriter that sings your material.

I've gotten to the point where I realize that I need to tell my truth in music and not walk around blabbing my mind.

Because I write very simply, but inside the simplicity, there's a lot of subtlety. That's what I'm proud of.

In many ways, I've chosen to be plain, almost too plain, too self-effacing. Like, if I record a vocal and I don't like the way it sounds, I would have them turn it up and take the reverb off it to make it as plain as possible.

White people don't sing together very often, and when they do, it's about the celebrity of the song. The singing at my shows is all about harmony.

The piano is just a different animal. It's expensive, it's big, it's heavy, and it doesn't fit in the mix easily. Everyone grew up with a piano in their living room, so rocking out on the piano was accessible - it wasn't an upper-class thing. Now pianos have become very much a piece of furniture.

I think a lot of good directors listen to music while they're working. The songs just don't become a part of the film. They're replaced.