I think the US and the UK are gradually growing closer together in a lot of ways. They're inextricably linked.

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.

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.

It would be a horrible business, a horrible sort of culture if you didn't have the candy pop as well as the real hard-hitting stuff. And I love some pop music.

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.

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

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.