Sometimes the fragment of a conversation, the color of the sky, the image in a dream, has everything to do with where the song begins.

The ephemeral nature of live performance is the part I love most - it's a monk's sand painting, carefully constructed, then wiped away in an instant.

I couldn't listen to music with lyrics for the first few months after the brain surgery, because they were too complex and disturbing. So I listened to a lot of classical music. I didn't really want to read, either, so I listened to books on tape or watched movies. I also re-taught myself all of my childhood piano pieces. It helped me repair my brain.

I have daughters who are writers and actors but no musicians.

I don't do comparisons because I always lose.

I needed to carve out my own place and find out what I was going to do

Being in the studio is like painting, you know, you can really take your time, and try different things, and kind of go deep into it.