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As a songwriter, I feel like, just for inspiration and research purposes, I have to listen to everything.

It was writing about music for NPR - connecting with music fans and experiencing a sense of community - that made me want to write songs again. I began to feel I was in my head too much about music, too analytical.

Like, I kind of developed my musical style in a vacuum. Even though I listen to a lot of stuff, the way I wrote was in my bedroom, really privately. It's still the way I write, actually.

I still feel the impulse to give young writers a hearing, and I believe I have played more unpublished compositions than any other band leader in the country.

As a songwriter, that's really what you hope for - to make that connection with your audience.

'Gatekeeper' was sort of my first attempt to put a little bit of a frame and boundaries around songwriting, and try to figure out a way to approach it that had a sort of end result in mind. I haven't written many like that.

It wasn't until I wrote 'Hideaway' that I found the song I related to as an artist.

Great classic music that I've been turned on to has not only inspired and influenced me, but it has had an effect on my songwriting.

I always write my music based on what is going on in my life at the time.