I just liked the feeling of being on stage. My parents weren't pushing me, they didn't have to, I was obsessed.

My dad and mom believed that you do what you have to do in private and don't make a big deal out of it. Just try to help people as much as you can.

I was raised in the environment where it really wasn't about sittin' around dreaming all the time, it was about practicing and workin' really hard and if a dream ever came to you, you'd be prepared for that opportunity.

I think a dad has to make his daughter feel that he's genuinely interested in what she's going through.

I'm a natural piano player. So all the practicing I do at this point is in my head. If I don't play for a year, my chops aren't going to get any worse. I've spent my time playing scales, and I don't necessarily want to play any faster than I play. So everything I do at this point is more philosophical.

Not everybody gets to record with an orchestra, and not everybody that gets to record with an orchestra gets to write all their own stuff.

At 14, I was playing in clubs until 3 A.M. My dad was the district attorney of New Orleans and my mother was a judge, so I saw hookers and drugs but I never wanted that life.