My first love was the sound of guitar.

My songwriting and my style became more complex as I listened, learned, borrowed and stole and put my music together.

Quite frankly, I've always listened to the black side of the radio dial. Where I grew up, there was a lot of it and there was a lot of live music around.

As far as other instrumentalists, I used to love mellow sax players like Paul Desmond. I love piano.

The short answer is, yes, I think I have become a better singer.

A lot of what I have always done is do other singers.

I feel fortunate that I was able to step away from it when I wasn't interested.