But when I started writing songs, I stopped painting completely, and the only art things I do are connected to the career, like album sleeves and, to some extent, posters and things like that.
I want to write a song called “Two Straws and a Spoon,” about one man being cuckolded by a milkshake.
I want to write a song based on my own childbirth. Of course, this is all a bit premature.
I think there are things in my story that have helped my creativity. Your father being killed, for instance, is one of the best things that could happen to a kid if he's going to write poetry or songs.
But when you get to a song, not only do you have to do a vocal melody, you have to write words and not be redundant and make some semblance of a story.
Often I have to move my body in a certain way, like exercising, to begin to get into the right rhythm for writing a song.
For as long as I'm able to write songs and sing them, it's just about making them ones I feel proud to sing again and again.
All of my records have been very personal, just writing more and more songs, you get better at being able to say what you feel.
I think there are people out there writing original bluegrass songs, but it's hard to get them out on the air.
Writing for yourself is like exposing your diary. It can be a little embarrassing at times, but if it helps somebody get through the day just by hearing a song, it's well worth it.
I'm always conscious of what I'm writing, conscious of what the actor may ask me. I have a defense for nearly every line in the song.
I often get ideas for songs on the tour bus at odd times. Like at 6am when no one is around, I'd just write.
When a song came on the radio that I wanted to learn, my mother would quickly write down the lyrics for me. Soon after, I would be singing it.
I sing songs that I have lived or I write them because I have lived them. I think the believability factor is key.
I don't write songs thinking about formats, where is it going to get played, who am I gonna please, what's the outlet for it.
It must have been when I was 14 or 15 that I started tentatively writing songs and was able to convey an emotion and a lyric with what I wanted to say.
The words we construct, the poems we write and the songs we sing, become the love story of a stranger we have never seen.
I was a storyteller for The Band. It was never, 'Hey guys, here's a song about what happened to me.' I was always more comfortable writing fiction.
Being a songwriter does not rely on an audience or other band members or a camera. I can just sit in a room and write songs.
I write my songs many times to chord progressions on a piano. Unfortunately, I can't keep playing the piano, so I just record it into the software.
I couldn't imagine having to write a paper and have to think about what song I am going to sing.
