I'm a self-taught musician so how I read music is kind of very weak and I kind of read my own version of tablature, I write my own crappy reminders on what I'm playing.

I had never made a record before, so I didn't know anything about it. I don't know anything about knobs, frequencies, tones.

I aim to write songs in a way that you don't have to have gone to Ghana to relate to it, you really just have to have a heart.

By the end of the writing process, which is about 80 songs per album, I look at the material and think, what's going to make a difference in someone's life.

When I was in high school, The Dave Matthews Band was a local band, and that was the first time I was starting to connect with a live band that was something that wasn't on the radio or TV.

Quite simply I've distilled my mission down to the essence. The only thing I'm really here to do is shine light on people's lives through music, through laughter and to simply enjoy being with people.

The foolish idea that my music can actually make a difference in someone's life - that right there is proof that it's working. It makes me feel great, it really does.