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By growing up in Alabama, I had a melting pot of the whole pie: R&B, gospel, country.

With the R&B, gospel feel that 'Sparkle' has, that opens the door for my fans to be more accepting of that sound and also for me to try it.

Oh man, I love what the South brings as far as the soul, and I really have noticed from even the early days of listening to OutKast and Goodie Mob that Atlanta and the South has a diverse sound to it. You have bounce music. You have soulful musicians. You have artists with vocals who try to do different things.

I absolutely think the Seattle grunge sound was instrumental to my music education.

I love Southern rock; it's because I grew up on it, and no matter where I am, I'll always be a Georgia girl.

When rock & roll is done with that fervor, it's close to gospel.

In the States, this type of jam-band phenomena has opened it up for groups to improvise, admittedly more in the groove area, as opposed to the straight-ahead jazz thing - which is good for me, as that's one part of where I'm at. It's been so great playing these gigs and seeing kids come out and the whole college scene.

Its rock n' roll that has done my hearing in.

What's really good is African drum music.

Rock 'n' roll is ridiculous. It's absurd. In the past, U2 was trying to duck that. Now we're wrapping our arms around it and giving it a great big kiss.