If you're a good band then the filter of the band is pretty strong.

I certainly have gotten caught up in the music business at various times in my life, mostly because you want to get along with whatever record company you're dealing with. I don't want to be flaky. I don't want to be some temperamental, hard-to-work-with musician.

I don't want to do children's music. I write kids songs, but the kids songs I write are for my kids - like when I'm putting them to bed. We sing some song that we made up but I don't want to make a record like that.

The first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more.

When you're a creative person and you create art with other people, whether you're married to them or not, you're going to run into creative conflicts. If you're a couple, certain inhibitions and barriers are gone. I have those barriers with other people, but I don't have them with my wife.

If I have more creativity that I want to get out of me, I try to find other ways than pursuing solo records so much.

I can remember back as far as age 8, performing with the Boston Folk Song Society. It was a Woody Guthrie song.