We used to sing along to Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald records together. She had the most amazing voice ... She's always encouraged me, and she's still that person who, when things look dire, lifts me up and reminds me of who I am and that we all have a capacity for greatness.

When you tune your guitar in a different way, it lends itself to a new way of looking at your songwriting.

I draw from my family and my friends and I feel like that small-town person. The achievements, the materialistic possessions have really become to mean less. They mean nothing.

I have a face I cannot show, I make the rules up as I go.

My first record had just broken, and these guys wanted my autograph. I thought, Oh, god, they recognize me. Turns out they thought I was Heidi Fleiss.

I like a good beer buzz early in the morning.

The bands that wrote the big, heroic rock songs - I really wanted to make a record like that.