I don't like to have everything all worked out in my head because there's always a chance of it coming out different than you think it should anyway.

I've got a small, loyal audience, which is great. And I appreciate that. They're there for me every time.

You think you've made something really great, but there's a reason why it's not resonating the way some previous work did. But it's not that easy to just replicate. Some people think, "Oh, just go do that thing you used to do before." But it just doesn't work like that. It's a lot more mysterious or slippery.

As soon as I got into music, I tried to be a working, real artist who gets paid for what he does, who doesn't have a day job.

I won't necessarily make new music because when you make a record there are these great expectations on the side of the record company who are going to produce your record, promoters that are going to do your shows. They want you to do interviews, they want you to play shows. I mean, they want it to be a campaign.

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

It's obvious you shouldn't steal, kill or be cruel.