I was very awkward as a kid. I was a square trying to fit into a circle and it never worked for me. The harder I tried, the harder I fell. For some reason I was a real target and I got beat up and called names.
On becoming a mother, I sort of feel like every kid is my kid. I really do get that sense in a much more profound way that we all are a global community and we all have to band to try and give the children of our this generation whatever tools we can to go out into this world and try and make it a better place.
It's all kind of a big illusion: the white picket fence and the perfect marriage and the kids. Check that box off, check that box off, and move forward.
I like the idea that we build up these walls or rules or laws to maintain our reality, and when they fall away, you're left with a whole bunch of illusions.
I have a full life: I have two amazing kids, I have great friends, great family. And right now, that's plenty for me to manage. A new relationship just seems like way too much work.
Half the bloody world is going through a divorce; more than that are having children. All of us have parents who are dying or have died. It's just the life cycle.
We are in an age of technology where we sit in our little cubicles and we IM each other and Skype each other and never connect as human beings.
Running is very rhythmic, and I have written a lot of lyrics while out running. It's a very musical exercise, and sometimes I like to sing when I run. Your whole body is doing the same thing.
I feel like I really tapped into a pretty honest emotional place for myself as a lyricist. There's a broad spectrum of emotions.
There are women in every genre having a lot of success. Why not celebrate that?
With every record I put out, I got a bit more success, a bigger following in cities I would play in, and occasionally a bit of radio play.
Music is very nebulous, and you can conjure up a lot of moods with music. But lyrics - they're a lot more tangible. They're much more specific. And you want to say something meaningful and creative and artistic and that tells a story and that takes people someplace else.
A big part of my love and passion for making music is playing it live.
I'll answer anything... I'm brutally honest, actually, which gets me in trouble.
If I had to pick one song for me that sort of quintessentially summed me up, it would be 'Angel.' Without fail, I absolutely love singing it.
For me, that's one of the best validations as an artist. To have a stranger come up to you and say that something you've created and put out there in the world has had some sort of impact on other people's lives.
I've been a fan of old country music, like Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline. I think I'm drawn to it because of the sense of sadness and sort of loss that a lot of good old country music has.
The darker and the sadder the song, the happier it makes me feel. It's just this, ah. I'm in the moment. I'm part of this beautiful world, and it's fantastic, and I don't really know how else to describe it.
Coming to terms with the fact that my marriage was a failure was devastating and very difficult. I blamed myself for a lot of things. It took me a very long time to get over it.
I would love to make my music and be completely anonymous, but that doesn't work. You can't have success and be faceless.
