A good song is like a mannequin - its form makes sense, but there's no life. There should be memorable melody, thoughtful lyric, appropriate arrangement.

A great song awakens something in your body / mind / spirit or history that you had forgotten about. It ignites some emotional kindling that you didn't even know you had stored. It awakens you to a possibility for the future - be it hope or excitement - that you never knew was possible.

A great song is the reason you want to jump out of your bed in the morning.

I'd be the outsider gal who undergoes a makeover in the end [in the 'The Breakfast Club' ].

A good song is like a mannequin - its form makes sense, but there's no life. There should be memorable melody, thoughtful lyric, appropriate arrangement.

From a literary standpoint, I've been loving Raymond Carver's short stories, William Carlos Williams' poems, Richard Siken's 'Crush', John Fante, and Jim Harrison's book of ghazals. I love film and photography too, so many of my songs are very image rich from those influences.

My main influences are pop and folk music - Bob Lind, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, the Motown collection, The Zombies, Elliott Smith, and a ton of 70's AM radio hits. I love powerpop too.