Emotional pain makes me want to isolate. Or hit back. It's very tough to rise above my natural inclinations. I'm always working on this.

But once you strip that down, you realize it's all about a voice, like a Norah Jones - that's inspiring to me.

And I'm also looking for a comeback record and it has to touch a lot of people.

That's really my goal now. I'm trying to be a positive role model to my kids and to just enjoy this ride, because it's hard. It's hard to enjoy it when you're in it.

My mom lived on an ashram on the early eighties. She turned me on to kundalini yoga and chanting and Transcendental Meditation. That was the first time I ever knew real peace.

Love the woods and nature and the water and animals. Stop the BS with poaching and hunting. Preservation is critical.

Did people think I sounded black? Totally, but that was a marketing tool as well, but also this is how I grew up and these are my influences.