I love playing to people and seeing them react.

It's wonderful to work with someone with mentor status.

It's great to have other people's help. Then the music gets heard. There's a lot more commercial support for that now.

Second records aren't usually very good. Even Bob Dylan's was a bit disappointing.

I was just learning to play guitar when Tracy Chapman came out. She wrote these songs, she played them by herself and I so admired her for that.

I think I was probably an early teenager when I discovered Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and a bunch of people that are on a long list of artists. They were important to me, especially as an early adolescent.

I listened to Billie Holiday a lot in order to learn to sing. She remains one of the extraordinary jazz singers. But my intent is to become my own voice, to be able to interpret these songs in my own way.