Songwriters I've always been drawn to are people who deal with something of depth in the lyric writing. ...I've always been influenced by the folk song, the storytelling tradition in folk music. And so for years I wrote mostly story songs. I still do that, but as I've gone on, it's gotten a little more personal. I used to write mostly in the third person. I write a little more in the first person now.

I feel like what I owe my audience is what I'm most passionate about.

Some things will never change.

I'm a kid for a living: I get to play the piano for a living.

I guess after you've been doing something for 20 plus years, you have to work to stay interested.

When I wrote the song, The Way It Is, I wanted to move people to take a stand on civil rights in this country.

People were talking while I was playing, so I got up and left the stage. I've gotten to the point where I'm not really very patient with patrons rapping during the show. And the people were all nice and quiet when I cam back.