Songwriting is a very mysterious process. It feels like creating something from nothing. It’s something I don’t feel like I really control.
I end up writing about all kinds of things. I never make an attempt to write about anything in particular. I don’t have a little list of topics to write about.
I got a plan to get out of here, I’ve been working at a convenient store.
A lot of kids spent more time out of school than in, but I always loved school and thought it was my way out of Cleveland, and out of poverty.
I dressed up as a veterinarian for a Halloween costume party. I had the lab coat. I got a couple of stuffed animals for patients and put bandages on them.
I think it’s important, if you are an artist, to use your music to stand up for what you believe in.
As a child I always had a sense of social conditions and political situations. I think it had to do with the fact that my mother was always discussing things with my sister and me – also because I read a lot.
I don’t want someone to squeeze me, that might take away my life. Just want someone to hold me, and we’ll rock through the night.
I’m not sure about anything as far as religion and spirituality go.
I never assumed I would have that commercial success, so it was a total surprise. And honestly, I never assumed that it would ever happen again.
With other people, you’re always swapping music. Somebody is always listening to something you’ve never heard. It’s a great way to hear all sorts of new things.
I really love playing music with other people. It’s more fun to be on the road with others. It’s kind of lonely out there when you play on your own!
Love’s a recurring theme through my work.
The songs are not necessarily autobiographical. A lot of songs are a combination of influences. It might be some part of my life, or something I’ve felt, or something somebody’s told me. It all comes together.
I often write either really early in the morning, or really late at night.
Everyone is looking for connections between the songs. I don’t usually approach a record as a concept. There’s no overriding theme I’m trying to represent. It’s all about the individual songs.
My older sister encouraged me from early on and bought me one of the first guitars I had. She listened to all of the crappy songs that I wrote when I was 8 years old and encouraged me to keep doing it.
My old man’s got a problem, he lives with the bottle.
I’m still thinking and hoping there’s an opportunity for people to have better lives and that significant change can occur.
Growing up in Cleveland, I learned about singing from my mother, who had once sung professionally and who admired Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin.
Words don’t come easily, like forgive me.