I've been obsessed with stopping people from blowing each other's brains out since I was ten.

During the 'ballad' years for me, the politics was latent; I was just falling in love with the ballads and my boyfriend. And there was the beauty of the songs.

We need to have faith in the people who are giving this movement direction to be smart enough to stay one step ahead of what's coming up next.

If you swing both ways, you really swing. I just figure you double your pleasure.

I was addicted to rhythm 'n' blues pretty much directly into folk music. I had my little 45s of mostly black artists. That was as close as I got. I've never listened to heavy rock or stuff that jangles my nerves, because I'm already jangled.

My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.

And my voice now is a struggle, it's a daily struggle to keep it up. Gravity has begun to fight the vocal cords the way it does with everybody. So I have a vocal therapist, and we record the sessions and I use them on tour every day.