The loss of Jerry Garcia feels like the end of an era in the same way it felt when Elvis died and John Lennon was killed.

Writin songs is like a mystery. The most difficult thing to do is have a good idea. If you have a decent idea, the songs are the easy part. Actually having something to say is the hard part. If you get an idea for a song, then it pulls you along. There are just some ideas that you get that are really hard to edit out; it's hard to stop thinking about some bad ideas. So you just finish it and you end up putting it on a record.

If it's not too late, make it a cheese-burger

If you forget the words to your own song, you can always claim artistic license. Forget the words to the national anthem and you're screwed.

There's no bad luck, There's just the luck you've found.

I'm not the kind of writer that can wake up and say, "Okay, I'm gonna write a song today," and have that song be the kind I would want to record. The songs of mine that I end up liking are songs that come from real experience. They're like chapter titles in my life.

I don't feel like I'm on a mission. I'm trying to play music that I like to play and like to listen to.