I think it's obvious that democracy is something that is contagious, and it always has been.

What saves me from being a drug addict is sort of the opposite. It's me realizing that I don't really control anything.

My objection to the death penalty is based on the idea that this is a democracy, and in a democracy the government is me, and if the government kills somebody then I'm killing somebody.

New Orleans is a unique environment.

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

America's criminal justice system isn't known for rehabilitation. I'm not sure that, as a society, we are even interested in that concept anymore.

What songwriting does better than almost anything is empathy - it's incredibly empathetic. The reason people sat around in bars when they were bummed out and listened to country songs is because it made them feel better in the long run.