As I said in one of my songs, we're still abolishing slavery, but nobody says it's a good thing. Nobody justifies it.

Being told that you are good at banter is like being told that you are a good person.

I would encourage people to bridge broadly and creatively in their communities, not just because that creates the most fun and resiliency, but also because it creates the most points of access for people to be part of the community, which is what democracy is at its best.

How I long to fall just a little bit, to dance out of the lines and stray from the light.

If you're looking for can-do, earthy-crunchy attitude then you've got to go to Wisconsin.

There's always people who came 600 miles to hear the song you didn't play.

Basically, I have found that people who have tried to start communities out of good feelings or hippie-dippie abstract concepts of love - it doesn't work. But if you just concentrate on what is the identity of your town - its waterfalls, its battles, its notable mill strike or those things - you dig into what your town is from its rock formations to its history to its food. Then this thing called community happens all the time.