One of the joys of writing music is making your own mark. Study other stuff, immerse yourself in music and then tell your own truth.

I would always consider myself to be political with a small "p," although it makes me mad when people say politics should be kept out of music.

I want to be accessible to a certain type of person who wants to walk around with their eyes open, or at least is open to the idea of change.

Music is politics - it always has been and it always will be.

I think that youth culture is now very deliberately designed by both corporate entities and by governments to not involve people directly. Because as soon as you involve people you have a small loss of control; and as soon as that happens, anything could happen.

If you are a Steve Earle and you're up on a platform and there are people out there listening to you, say something to them. Tell them something valuable. Tell them something they need to know. It doesn't have to be dictatorial, it just has to be informative.

Bob Dylan had been a big sort of presence in my life but I'd never quite registered what he was trying to tell me. He was always this kind of figure, a sort of bear-like figure in the corner of the room. You know, every time I imagined what Bob Dylan looked like, he looked a bit like Steve Earl used to look - with the beard.