I don't regret any of the musical decisions I have made.

It's meant to reaffirm the validity of that music - clean, minimalist, honest, classic music.

I listen to hundreds of those hymns sung repeatedly over the years of my life. And I know that they probably influenced a rhyme scheme maybe to certain extent. They influenced the pentameter of placement of words, etc. And it's not something that's a conscious thing that occurred.

It's more in retrospect as I've thought about it over the years and look back at what I wrote, how I wrote things - like there's a song that Ralph Stanley later recorded with me that he had guested on my record what was called "Travelers Lantern" that I wrote as basically, you know, a hymn.

I live out of cans a lot. But I try to indulge only in healthy canned food.

I think that we come to a greater understanding of the world we live in and ourselves through reading.

The congregation that I was raised in was one that sang and a non-instrumental fashion. It was all a cappella singing, and so that had a major influence on me.