It's good to learn early that every show is a family - -complete with dysfunctional relationships, tough love, and plenty of occasion for forgiveness.

I don't speak during the day. I warm up physically and, obviously, vocally, constantly. And I try to live like a nun.

I'm constantly changing up my show. It's never the same.

I'm sick of people who've never been to church telling me that church is full of hypocrites, and people who've never read the Bible telling me that it's baloney.

[Songs] have to be a part of you. They have to be in your DNA. That's how I approached it.

Norman, Okla. That's where my folks live, so it's home to me.

You go in and record and sing them some and you go back in and rerecord and sing them some more. That's kind of how I did this album [The Art of Elegance].