On the road, I weigh 168. At home, ten more.

What I'm doing is basically the same as Bob Dylan did with folk songs and Woody Guthrie songs, the same as folk music's always done. I'm not going to sing about ploughing, but I'll write a song that sounds like it should be about ploughing.

All my records have been written to be records, rather than writing a group of songs and seeing if they fit together.

There's a certain urgency that comes from the records of the early 60s before overdubbing and multitracking came into play.

I don't think I have any right to say I belong to that [Woody Guthrie/Bob Dylan tradition]. I think that's something that eventually maybe you get inducted into. I'm just experimenting.

I didn't get into music to become a blues musician, or a country musician. I'm a singer-songwrit er. In my book that means I get to do whatever I want.

Nashville's like any other hometown - after a while, it's stifling.