You need two things to remain very, very present. You need to continue to write well and engage yourself in the issues of the day. And you have to continue to make good, relevant records.

And at the time, for one of the few times in my life I didn't have a band, I just had myself and the guitar, so I was going to have to do something with just my voice, just the guitar and just my songs that was going to move someone enough to give me a shot. So I wrote songs that were very lyrically alive and lyrically dense. And they were unique, but it really came out of the motivation to - or I understood it was - I was going to have to make my mark that way.

It's hard to be a saint in the city.

My heart's dark, but it's rising. I'm pulling all the faith I can see.

Anyone who's grown up or lived on the Jersey Shore knows the place is unique.

Politics and life go hand in hand.

We all have stories we're living and telling ourselves.