My religious upbringing was comically strict — even the Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner was banned. In our house, no one was allowed to refer to deviled eggs. We had to call them angelic eggs. We were never allowed to swear. I'd get into trouble just for saying 'Hell no'. If you dropped a hammer on your toe in our house you had to say something like 'Jiminy Christmas'. The only music we were allowed to listen to was gospel. No wonder I rebelled.

I still have a spiritual base and a spiritual foundation. And my conversation with God is very open-ended. I pray for humility, honestly, because it's very easy to be caught up in this world.

I'd go to the farmers' market in Santa Barbara, and I'd put out my guitar case, and I'd test out these little ditty songs that I would write, and I would get a couple of avocados, a bag of pistachios, and, like, fifteen bucks. That was a lot of money for me.

At my second record label, they told me and other female artists that some of us were going on the chopping block. I was 19... and it was devastating.

People always ask me, 'What is it that you regret?' And I say, 'nothing, because I could not buy what I've learned.' And I apply those things to my life I learn. And hopefully, hopefully it helps me to be a better human in the future and make better choices.

What I wanted to be and who I am is a singer and a songwriter. I wanted to be onstage, and I wanted the world to hear my music. The product of that is fame and the disgusting celebrity that goes along with it. But celebrity does not equal creativity.

I’m not Buddhist, I’m not Hindu, I’m not Christian, but I still feel like I have a deep connection with God.