Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Robert Plant, Kenny Chesney, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, this incredible array of folks, all taught me a way to carry yourself with dignity.
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 took a lot of years for me to get comfortable, strutting my stuff, dancing like a fool, having that sparkly dress on that says, 'Here I am.'
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.
I'm very much a word-centric writer, and that comes from the literature and the reading that I did as kid and also the films and mythology and stories.
Spirituality is complicated. I do not belong to any particular religious group, but I have profound respect for people who devote their lives to faith.
Voting is something that we all have a right to. It's not something that we have to do... it's absolutely an honor and a great opportunity to be heard.
So much of myself is consumed with earning my way, doing it myself, and never feeling like things are being handed to you. Growing up that way was humbling.
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.
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 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.
Being on a major label is like living at your friend's parent's mansion: It's a lot nicer than any apartment we could afford, and the fridge is always full of food.
My mom was a piano teacher. It turned into something of a competition between me and her students... I liked the idea that I needed to be better than everybody else.
The limitations and parameters of a band is something I've always enjoyed: so many creative people coming together and raising the music to places we'd never get on our own.
As long as you have balance, you can experience all of the things going on in the world and reach out and meet people and try new things, and you shouldn't be judged for it.
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.
When I grew up and went to school, all the cool kids were in Carhartts and Mudd boots, and they were listening to the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers and driving Volkswagens.
With my childhood and growing up in a very free place where my parents were artists and always encouraging me to explore, you wouldn't think I was locked up in my own mind, but I was.
I've gone from wearing jeans and cowboy boots to wearing miniskirts and gold tassels and high heels. I'm sure I'm not going to dress that way forever. It's going to change again and again.
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.
Think about what makes a band burn out. They get too successful too fast. And then they take it for granted. And they get entitled. And they get picky. We don't ever allow ourselves that possibility.
Mick Jagger knows how to run a show. It's all about pacing. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. His output is amazing, but his movements are subtle. As I get older, I'll have to adhere to these rules.
I've gotta long list of things to do, bucket list things - play 'Saturday Night Live,' make a movie. I want a lot of things, but one of my deepest wishes would be to headline - and sell out - Red Rocks.
I'm not capable of wielding the guitar like Jimmy Page, one of my all-time favorite guitarists. My skill set is more based on the grinding, sort of human heartbeat - almost playing the guitar more like a drum.
The longevity of a band is really contingent on loving the people that you're making music with and being able to get along in the long run. It's just like being married, except you're married to more than one person!
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.
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.
There's nothing less sexy than a girl falling over on stage. I have fallen once, but it had nothing to do with my shoes. I'm legally blind, so I fell over a monitor because the stage was black, and I had no depth perception. Mortifying.
A lot of the themes that I write about are an affirmation of our existence on earth and making people feel like they are not alone, and making them feel like it is OK to be a little bit insane. That has always been sort of my credo in life.
We are definitely a team, from each band member to our management/booking agent. I like to be as involved as possible with business decisions, but at a certain point, it's important to me to step aside and let the professionals do their thing.
The misconception about the record company is that they were the ones who got me wearing short skirts, or got me to do my hair blond, or got me to dance around onstage and start doing different things with my clothes. No, that was actually all me.
I love making savory stratas for Christmas morning. I get excited about it. It's a polenta strata with homemade bread, with a billion eggs and Parmesan cheese. I'll drizzle truffle oil over the whole thing, which will just destroy people. It's amazing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What I was drawn to the most about the Flying V was the weight distribution with the way I move on stage. The V just swings perfectly. It's a great way to stay balanced, because I like to dance, and I'm a bit of a flail-er. The guitar centers me, and for me, it's a really good balance.
Trends suck you in, anywhere in the world, patterns you don't even see. It's so easy. Look at Wall Street - look at any sports team in the world - there are trends. Look at exercising. Nothing but patterns and trends, and that's what I started to see. Like a flock of birds all flying in one direction.
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.