My gift's primarily literary. That being said, I ended up a musician. By the time I made the bluegrass record...I'm more impressed with myself when I push the envelope musically than I am when I push it literality.

I was comparatively late in understanding Bob Dylan's overwhelming importance as a songwriter. Everybody who does my job exists in the shadow of Bob Dylan. There are two categories: Dylan and everybody else. It's as simple as that. And it's going to be that way until he dies.

Fundamentalism, as practiced by the Taliban, is the enemy of real thought, and religion, too.

I'm one of the few people that I know that sings better than they did 20 years ago.

I wasn't raised to not write about issues, and I'm just living in really politically charged times. You know, I'd rather write songs about girls, but it's just hard to do right now.

Sympathetic characters usually have a voice. They usually don't have any trouble being heard.

I think the criticism that I take to heart is from other writers that I respect.