Patty Griffin is iconic, and there's no other word to really describe her. She is iconic for a lot of people - not only for me but for a lot of fans. Her voice is one of a kind, and she's such an important figure in the American music scene.

I think if you sing a song for the first time to your mom and dad, or your friends, and they go, 'That's pretty cool'-if you're playing at the local bar somewhere, or the coffee shop, singing songs, or if you have a gig somewhere and you're singing your own songs, I think that's some version of making it. ... It's not just about having commercial success; it's about having a great life.

That's what I love about Nashville and the music community - seeing kids around acoustic music and bluegrass picking parties is the best.

I'm a member of the George Jones fan club, and I'm a member of U2's fan club.

And I'm the biggest country fan there is, but I'm always a little cautious of a slower song or just a song with subject matter.

As a songwriter, you might write every day and throughout the course of a year you might get four songs that are really special.

No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.