I'm very influenced by landscapes, not so much the way places look as the way the names sound. In this country we've got so many cultures, and the place names - the Spanish names and the Indian names, which are so incredibly musical.

I'm blessed to be able to work at something that I'm good at, and that I love. It's not something I take for granted.

The reason you write [songs] is because there's something you want to say that is important to you - enough to go through all the torture of writing.

I love Chicago, but I didn't think I had enough soul to be a Cubs fan.

I get a lot of sleep on the bus. I bring two dogs with me, who keep me grounded. I guess that's just in my soul. It's good to know that you're good at something.

I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.

Normal is a cycle on a washing machine.