Amalgamation is a good word that I like to use - musically and in every way.

I love to read things that have moral messages, and I love to hear stories where it's not just a hook, you have to follow the story, you have to listen to the message of the song, and get it and use it in your everyday life.

I can't believe the ignorance there, so I don't allow it to affect my life, I don't allow it to come into my zone, and it's not in my world, really.

My challenges have not been around music. My hardest thing in music was just sitting down and teaching myself how to play and believing in myself.

They're all personal and self-created challenges that I think I've overcome within myself. Being confident enough to get on stage and play, things like that.

If my parents hadn't been made to do that from living in the Bible Belt, maybe it wouldn't be something that matters to me - maybe I wouldn't even know how to talk to God.

I met PJ Harvey when I was in England, and the first thing I want to do when I meet a songwriter I admire is to ask them how do they receive songs.