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 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’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.