I started writing when I was around 6. I say 'writing,' but it was really just making up stuff! I started writing and doing my own thing. I didn't really know what a demo was or anything like that, so I started getting interested in studio gear and started learning about one instrument at a time. My first instrument was an accordion.

When I was 13 or 14, I took seven months off from touring. I did a lot of weekend gigs in Louisiana. We have fairs and festivals every weekend. But I took seven months off. That's when I really started digging deep. I wrote a couple songs that year that I still play every now and then for people.

A bass player has to think and play like a bass player. A drummer has to play and think like a drummer, and stay out of the way of the vocalist. The guitar player has to respect everybody else.

Albums are chapters. They're part of a story.

Like a wave on the ocean I will always come right back to you.

I write for myself. I don't write because I have a record coming out. I write because I want to. I need to.

Encore' was an experiment. 'Encore' was the second chance at a first impression. 'Encore' was not completely planned.