I'm trying to get out of my own way

It's always been hard for me to do without sounding precious or too corny or whatever.

I can speak for most songwriters - those breakup love songs are so easy to write, as far as the inspiration and all that.

I started writing songs, I guess, when I was about 13 or 14, but I didn't know if they were good enough yet or anything.

So few people are truly themselves when they're in the spotlight.

When I started out playing guitar and singing, I was about twelve, going on thirteen. The role models for me back then were the folk singers. They all had these high, really nice voices and ranges, like Judy Collins and Joan Baez, and then later, of course, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt. I decided early on that I was going to learn how to write songs really, really well, because I didn't want to have to compete as a singer. I didn't feel that it was my strong point.

I think in the world of rock music or whatever it's called - anything outside of Nashville - there's a lot more freedom within that industry to do whatever you want to do.