I think the music was speaking to that opening up of whose voice gets heard and how multidimensional that voice can be.

The funny thing is musicians often love to go to see visual art because you've got all these pictures to turn into metaphors.

I started going out with one of my managers and he really grew me up in a lot of ways. He introduced me not just to being a full-time traveler, which I was, but he was also really very interested in history and art and continued to open my eyes up to regional history; less splashy histories. He was interested in historical societies and stuff like that. He introduced me to a way of looking at the way communities form that is the foundation for the book that I've just finished writing that has to do with what I see as effective community-building wherever I've been traveling.

Writing 'February' made me realize that breaking form is a way of letting the song be human.

I went from having three little jobs that I strung together to being on the road full-time; having some savings that my managers told me to spend. You fly all over the country opening for these other people. You pay a publicist to get some press while you're establishing yourself and you will be solvent in this career forevermore.

I have odometer readings, kids; all sorts of measurements of what I've been doing for the last 20 years. I get it. I get that it was a while ago.

I'm amazed at the adolescent nature of some of the religious fanatics in our government. And they're full of double standards.