Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest album, and what themes or stories you aimed to convey through your music?

This release is kind of a strange animal, because it’s a double-live album. That’s something that traditionally only famous people have done, not a nobody like me! Volume I is stripped down or solo performances from shows in Europe and the US, and Volume II is the full-band stuff, all taken from US shows.

I was diagnosed with cancer last year. When you get hit with that kind of news, your life flashes in front of you. I had released five records, and I thought, “Is this what I’ll leave behind? Is this all I’ll have to be remembered by after I’m gone?” I’d spent the last few years working my tail off doing live dates. I’d made a living at it and enjoyed so many great moments interacting with people, but all that was fleeting. It doesn’t get documented, like when you go into the studio and make a record.

Then I remembered that a tiny fraction of that work actually had been recorded. I went through all the shows we’d done recently that were captured on multi-track. There weren’t a whole lot of them, but we went with what we had. This is a great snapshot of what’s essentially been my setlist for the past few years.

The good news is, we were about seventy-five percent done with this project, and I had a follow-up oncology visit with labs and CT scans and bloodwork and everything, and it had stopped growing. I’m not totally out of the woods yet, but this was fantastic news, compared to the original diagnosis.

The silver lining here is that, after receiving that diagnosis, I went out every night and savored every note. It’s a blessing to be able to do this for a living, and I’ll never take it for granted again. But I have no delusions about cancer; I’m OK for now, but I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.

Music often has the power to transport people to different places and times. Can you describe a moment in your life when a particular song or album had a profound impact on you?

My folks were both musicians, so I grew up being exposed to a lot of music, and much of it was from before I was even born. The first song I remember really having an impact on me was “Sunday Morning Coming Down” – you know, the definitive Johnny Cash recording.

What’s going on in that song is pretty heavy stuff, and all adult fare, but I can still remember, as just a kid, somehow “getting it” – I could feel the isolation and emptiness and dysfunction, and that the guy was longing for some missing sense of feeling connected to anything. I was just beginning to write songs; you know, those horrible first attempts at songwriting you make when you first decide you’re serious about wanting to make music. I decided that I wanted to write songs that really hit people between the eyes like that.

That’s a Kris Kristofferson song, and my dad played me Kristofferson’s original recording of it. I remember being underwhelmed, and intrigued by how Cash didn’t write the song, but his rendering was so much more poignant. My dad then explained how arranging and production can affect the delivery of a song. All that was a lot for a kid to take in at an early age, but I remember it lighting a fire. I didn’t just want to make music, I wanted to learn how to mold it, to wield it. I wanted to be able to make people feel something, the same way that Cash recording made me feel.

Many artists have rituals or routines they follow before performing or recording. Do you have any unique or quirky pre-show or pre-recording rituals that you find help you get in the zone?

Most of the musicians I know like to show up as close to showtime as possible. And I hate that. I love to be on-site a minimum of an hour before things kick off. I don’t mean hanging out in the green room or backstage or whatever, I mean lurking in the audience (which is easy when you’re not famous!). I want to get a handle on the vibe and the feel of the room. You’d be surprised how that helps your show; it sets the stage for your interaction with the audience. It’s the polar opposite of the perfunctory “How y’all doin’ tonight” or “Hello (insert city here)!” Every audience, every show is unique, and if you don’t feel that, then it’s your job to make it that way.

Your lyrics often tell a story or convey a message. Can you share the story behind one of your songs and the inspiration that led to its creation?

I’m going to pick “Hometown Hotel” because a friend of mine recently he told me he thought it was my finest songwriting moment. It’s nice to step back and let somebody else make that call.

I grew up in – shall we say – modest circumstances. We were not poor; I knew poor kids, and I want to make it very clear that I was not one of them. But we lived in what was essentially a glorified five-room shack on a back lot, off the beaten path. It was, quite literally, on the proverbial “wrong side of the tracks” – the more well-to-do folks and their nice houses were on the other side of a set of railroad tracks. I remember being embarrassed and almost ashamed when kids from school came over.

Well, that house is everything I’m about now. If I have any redeeming qualities at all, they came from that house. We had a great family life, we had music, my brother and I both had a great childhood, and we didn’t need any money or fancy possessions. You realize that stuff much later on, of course.

I’d been occasionally going back to that house after my folks died. It was abandoned and falling apart, being swallowed up by the surrounding woods. I just wanted to be near it, and all kinds of things would run through my mind. Following in my dad’s footsteps into music as a profession was kind of a double-edged sword; he was proud and we shared a lot of great moments, but there were also some generational conflicts and a sense of rivalry and maybe some envy there when I started to do pretty well, while his day in the sun had passed.

We were both very head-strong, and not everything was resolved before he passed. I’m still very angry at him about some things, but I’m also aware of how blessed I am to have had that relationship. All of that came out in that song, which was written while sitting by that old house. I think it also accomplished a crucial objective of songwriting, which is to merge the personal with the universal. Most people have had some stuff like what’s going on in that song happen in their own lives.

I think the studio recording was way over-produced, because I felt I had this grand statement, so I had to have some over-the-top “epic” recording of it. I’m much happier with the version on this live album, which was just me alone on piano, from a show in England. I think the song is much more well-served that way.

If you could curate a music festival with a lineup of your dream artists, who would be the headliners, and what would the theme of the festival be?

Ooooo, what a fun question! The theme would be, “These artists totally don’t belong on the same bill together, so stick around for the whole day and you’ll definitely learn something.”

To cover the most ground, I would select people who do a mixed genre thing in the first place. It would have to include Lucy Woodward; she’s the most amazing female vocalist out there, and she has this wonderful, bizarre mix of swing, pop, and even a little gypsy jazz going on. Then it could take a hard turn into bluegrass, but with somebody like the Punch Brothers, who bring that whole bluegrass lexicon to the uninitiated while mixing it with more modern fare

And then I’d get the Opera Cowgirls, which is exactly what it sounds like; they’re five female opera singers who mix opera with classic country music, and the results are both hilarious and ingenious. We’ve bounced around the same scenes together and gotten to know each other a little, and I haven’t seen them in a few years, but we’re both playing New York City in May and I’m off the night they’re playing, so I can’t wait to catch them again.

I guess to really round things out we’d need something symphonic, then a hard rock or metal band, and then I guess some Gregorian chant, right? OK, too far…

Music can be a powerful tool for advocacy and change. Are there any social or political causes that you’re passionate about, and how does your music play a role in promoting these issues?

I come from a family of veterans, and some of my songs deal with that. I’m a big supporter of veterans’ affairs groups like Tunnel To Towers, Wounded Warriors, etc. One thing I haven’t done yet, which I would love to do, is one of those tours overseas playing at military bases. Politically, I have become extremely active with campaigns at both the local and national level over the past several years, but that’s all behind-the-scenes stuff, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.

The music industry has evolved significantly with technology. How do you see artificial intelligence and emerging technologies impacting the creation and distribution of music in the future?

I actually think we’ve already seen the worst of that. Listen to pop production over the last ten or fifteen years. Not the songwriting or the artists – I still hear a lot of talent and creativity there – but the production. Pop music can be made on a laptop and still sound great, but some of this stuff sounds like it was made on a frigging Playstation. I’m like, “Is that the demo? When do we get to hear the real thing?” These “producers” – man, they ain’t even trying! It’s just so lazy; can it really get any worse with AI?

I think the real issue with AI is what we saw last year with the SAG/AFTRA strike. It’s a human displacement issue; artificial usurpation of someone’s likeness. The ultimate form of intellectual property is you as a person! If somebody wants to make animated movies because production costs are lower than hiring real actors, OK, but don’t just look for a way to rip off an existing person’s name and likeness. I was really proud of the SAG/AFTRA folks, the stand they took, and how they really dug in. They made it clear that it’s not just a matter of technology. It’s also a moral issue.

Many recording artists evolve over time. How do you see your musical journey changing and growing in the next decade?

Man, I am LOVING these questions. This is something I’m thinking about all the time. Not only where I’m going in the next decade, but where I’ve been in the last one. Which was the whole point of doing this double-live album. I’m going to be moving on from a lot of these songs. This has essentially been my setlist for the past few years, but these songs have done their duty. I’m working on a lot of new music in the studio for a new album, and I’m excited to bring these new songs into the live show.

I play live so much – over a hundred dates a year – and I’m getting a sense now of how that’s impacting my songwriting. The constant changing dynamic of a different audience each night means you can’t just go on autopilot and do your thing the same way every night; you’ve got to respond to the circumstances in front of you and gauge the audience’s vibe and interact with them. I never really noticed how much I change things up each night until I went through all these live recordings. I’m just as mercurial now in the studio; I used to really work and work at a track to hammer out a precise vision. I’m a lot more free-wheeling and spontaneous now. I treat songs in the writing and recording process as something more malleable, like I do in the live show, and I expect that to continue.