I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.

Very few opera singers in history have been able to cross into popular music.

My philosophy is that the people around us are there doing as much work if not more work behind the scenes and they're the last people you would ever be unkind to, so I hope I'm not a diva off stage.

With classical singing you have to put out so much air - you project, you emit force.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

When a human being without amplification makes a sound that is high and loud, it is almost unworldly.

I enjoy the more floaty, exposed, elegant singing.