On some planet, I probably could have been a lawyer. On some planet, I could have been somebody in advertising.

You know, at 35 or at 38 or 40 you really start to see what your body could look like if you just don't do anything all winter long. So that's another motivating factor, our vanity.

Right, those relationships with your parents and family are the hardest to figure out, and the same patterns get carried into a band situation.

Well, you go to Holland and everybody's on a bike - nobody would think to have a car.

Every year is filled with good times and fights and struggles and misunderstandings. All of it adds up to being in a band over a long time.

We’re super fortunate in Pearl Jam to have such loyal fans...who really want to come & see us play.

A significant event for me was learning Hank Williams, reconnecting with his music's simplicity, which inspired me to inhabit the same territory. It's different, because I grew up on Led Zeppelin, The Stooges and punk, so in that sense I'm mutating country and folk more than a few degrees.