Renounce All Those Material Things That You

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.

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 See Some Recurring Themes: Things That Feel Threaded Together, Some Symbolic References, And Songs About Some Of The Big Questions, Like Death. There Are A Lot Of References To Weather, Too!

Growing Up In Cleveland, I Learned About Singing From My Mother, Who Had Once Sung Professionally And Who Admired Mahalia Jackson And Aretha Franklin.