As long as there are a few people there, I can lose myself, which is the ultimate goal. And that's happening more and more; the non-musical world is becoming less and less interesting to me.

Music is the marriage of the feelings of the living to the wisdom of the dead.

I grew up in the suburbs and was raised on rap radio, so it took me a long time to stumble upon the acoustic guitar as a resource for anything.

I've always thought about myself as somewhat of a folk musician. I just write words.

I don't think I'm even a musician. I don't play a lot of instruments, not really a soloist or anything.

It's just a joy to be able to work with a lot of different musicians. When you play with great musicians, whether they're schooled or self-taught, they keep you on your toes.

I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's not paycheck at the end; it's more of a "whatever is left over" kind of situation. Also, it keeps me from thinking about my creativity as a business, which it is not. It should remain pure; that's one of the reasons I made music in the first place.