I've never quite felt totally comfortable up on stage. I've gotten more comfortable, but drinking wine is a crutch that gives me a little courage. It helps me lose a little bit of the self-consciousness and the awareness of how awkward it is standing on a stage with lights and a bunch of people looking at you while you sing love songs.

I'm not saying I'm not a moody guy sometimes, but I think I have a pretty normal balance.

You gotta lean towards the things that make you like yourself. Forget everything else.

My parents know that I have always been sort of a dark melodramatic kid, so they were never concerned.

I never sit and fill a journal with lyrics. Most of the time I'm trying to write a feeling, not a story. I'm not necessarily trying to describe the details of a place or event so much as the feeling of the thing. It is a kind of weird alchemy that is elusive until it feels right.

Music has got a community vibe to it that pulls people together, and those communities are different in different places.

A song is a song and, if I am emotionally connected to do it, whether it is sad or not sad, I am going to chase that song.