I’m grateful that music has been a place where I’ve found freedom.
I am always excited about playing in front of live audiences because I really enjoy it, for the most part.
They’re all personal and self-created challenges that I think I’ve overcome within myself. Being confident enough to get on stage and play, things like that.
I love to read things that have moral messages, and I love to hear stories where it’s not just a hook, you have to follow the story, you have to listen to the message of the song, and get it and use it in your everyday life.
I’m not religious, but I am spiritual and I am creating my own practice.
I just have to do prayers and meditation and affirmations to myself as I go throughout the day, and that’s the only way I’m able to make it through some days.
Sometimes when you’re in a more fast-paced place, with more to see and do, you miss out on things like nature and beautiful, God-made things. They call it “God’s country”!
When I think about singing, and music, I think about how the people who live on the East Tennessee side have more of a curve or yodel to their voices, and then you think about the curve of mountains.
Even though I like looking good – don’t get me wrong – but if I don’t want to, I don’t have to.
Im constantly being inspired by the old days and taking things from the past and allowing them to lift me up where I am now.
I must stay true to myself and take my own path all the way.
Even the sad roots songs have a lot of good stories to them, and the murder ballads are good too. I mean, who doesn’t like to watch a nice gory murder film on TV?
I try to write down every song that comes to me, even though I know that every song that comes to me isnt a song that I need to sing.
Amalgamation is a good word that I like to use – musically and in every way.
I like performing live more than anything. I get a little bit afraid in the studio.
There are a lot of murder ballads out there, but most of them are about killing the woman. I was like, “We’ve gotta turn this around!”
I just love music, and I absorbed what I love.
I met PJ Harvey when I was in England, and the first thing I want to do when I meet a songwriter I admire is to ask them how do they receive songs.
I dont marry bandmates just to go marrying bandmates.
If you want to get broken in good, put four girls on the road together in a van and tour up and down the country.
As I try to get around with a guitar, a banjo and a suitcase of high heels and dresses, I treasure that little ukulele.
I mean, roots musicians – we can get old, you know? We can get up there and wear overalls and deliver the songs, we don’t have to look any certain way.
I know a lot of people that don’t pray or anything, and that’s fine – but I need to. I don’t even want to call it prayer, I just want to call it talking to something bigger than me.
I don’t even want to call it God. I just want to call it connecting with something that’s greater than I am. So that’s the biggest thing from Tennessee – the spirit.
I have a lot of different collections of cards at home. It’s hard to say my favorite deck, but there is a deck called the medicine cards, and it’s Native American animal cards.
