There are a lot of bands coming up now that are literally thrusting their soul, their passion into something that fans can pay for a ticket to go see, and they know it's going to be awe-inspiring.
I know it's strange, but I've always had a better time with other people's wild ideas. Coming up with my own is a deeply emotional and challenging thing to do.
When people see a talented girl, it calls to mind the very rare breed of women who have managed to succeed. If I were a dude with the exact same voice, band and songs, I doubt they'd compare me to Sheryl Crow. But hey, I'm not complaining. Big fish, small pond.
When I was a kid, I listened to the Doors and the Eagles and bands like the Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Blondie.
I was a general contractor when I was paying for my first record.
I was always sort of mystified and excited about the world of country music. Something about it struck me as enchanted.
I was like a closet makeup fiend as a little girl because I knew that I would be guffawed at in school if I wore too much makeup.
What I'm wearing changes everything about how the show goes. If I'm wearing blue jeans and flannel, it's going to be a country show, and I'm going to get my twang on. But if I'm wearing a flapper dress, fringe or sequins, I'm rocking out, Tina Turner style.
I see musicians like Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris as more than just musical icons: they are planets, with a gravitational pull - from how they flip their hair just-so when they bow, right down to their hearty backstage banter. It takes decades to learn the innuendos of being gracious and genuine all at once.
I'm from Vermont, where to be stylish and cool is to have a dirty pair of hiking boots and know how to change a tire, hang drywall, and bale hay. Those people are my home, and every time I come home, it reminds me that there's something to be said for being in the spotlight, but it can never be a whole part of me.
I think that identity and sort of the brand - I hate that word - the brand of the musician should be malleable. It should change, and it should grow.
In a lot of ways, the Nocturnals are a safety net and a beautiful, beautiful blanket. All the life and music we've woven makes it so much more than a name on a marquee. But I realized the Nocturnals aren't me but a part of me... so it's natural to want to grow.
Tearing down an old house and building a new one is the most wasteful thing we do as humans.
I worked extremely hard at my craft and at being a good songwriter, being a good guitar player, being a good organist, because I didn't think people would take me seriously.
I was, like, a kooky kid, so people thought I was loud, but I really wasn't. I was kind of loud in outbursts. I was like a silent volcano. When I did have something to share, it was very over-the-top. But I've learned to balance that.
I've seen Coldplay live a couple of times, and you feel like you just got rained over with glorious, glowing love. That's a good feeling to leave people with.
I really love what Chuck Berry did with Christmas music, and also the Rat Pack Christmas stuff, which I listened to all through my childhood.
It's funny: when I was a kid, my mom would reorganize the record collection all the time. She'd have classical, she'd have Celtic, she'd have rock and roll, and then she'd have female singers. And I don't like it that female singers are their own genre.
There's something to be said for being sleepy-eyed. I love sleepy eyes - that sort of vulnerability of being slightly discombobulated because you don't know where you are. But I like that vulnerability. It's sexy to me.
My parents raised me on Spooky Tooth and The Band, Derek and the Dominoes, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, all that stuff. Rock n' roll was just in my subconscious.
