There are still civil rights issues. There are still people who can’t be visited by their spouse in the hospital because they’re gay. These are humanitarian issues. At the end of the day, all you want is for people to be happy in the pursuit of life, love and liberty.
You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye.
When I was younger, I was always running into other girls involved in music. When I was about 14 or 15, one of my friend’s dads was an Elvis impersonator and asked us to sing backups at a rehearsal. I did well and was hired. Did that for about two years.
Even before I had a daughter, I was passionate about global women’s issues, but now that she’s here, I’m even more inspired to leave a better world for Evangeline.
My songwriting is so influenced by orchestrated music, dramatic, super glam rock-y stuff. Two of my biggest influences in songwriting were Elton John and Freddie Mercury.
People that could yodel always fascinated me. People that could sing loud always fascinated me. So I started trying to mimic at a really young age: 6, 7 years old.
My advice to new artists is to embrace a broader concept of timelessness than vintage or retro.
It’s impossible to just come up with one thing that I could say to the world. That’s why I’ve spent my life in the pursuit of the opportunity to sing to it. Summing it up goes against what fuels me.
Every city has a town outside with a lake. I pull out my fishing pole and fish. I’ve been doing that for a long time.
Privilege and complacency paralyze me with fear sometimes.
I tend to feel really protective of songs, and if they aren’t sitting well in a record, I’ll pull them tight to my chest until I feel it’s a better time.
I tend to support and get behind issues instead of candidates, because of the whole ‘Super Bowl’ generalization of our world – You’re on this side, I’m on that side; you’re a Republican, I’m a Democrat; you’re country music, I’m rock music.
I was born when I met you, now I’m dying to forget you.
In life, I’m most inspired by entertaining people and driven by the desire to do it by such a powerful force that I think it influences everything I do.
I love fishing, any kind of fishing.
My mother’s a singer and my mother’s father is a singer, and everyone on both sides are all country-western bluegrass musicians.
But now, with the last two years of touring and being on the road, I’ve learned that a live show should never sound like a record; a record should sound like a live show.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be famous by anyone’s definition. I can only hope to be allowed by the audience to continue my life’s work.
Sometimes seeming happy can be self-destructive even when you’re sane.