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I don't know why people are so surprised by my live performances.

My approach is so simple; every song I sing, every story I tell, every move I make, must move the audience to laughter, tears, or inspiration. Otherwise, why do it? It's the communication.

I have to remind myself constantly that people actually want to hear the music I've made; that's hard for me to digest. I think a live audience is the only tangible evidence you can have that your work is making an impact. It's really humbling.

At first, I wasn't really keen on the idea of me being on stage having to sing in front of people.

When I sing, I have to live in that moment, so my audience can feel that. That is my reason for doing art.

It is amazing to sing in front of a live audience. It is incredible. The energy is awesome.

When you are in the studio, you don't have anybody to feed off of; meanwhile, when you are playing live, you interact with people and you feel the energy in the room. When the crowd is going crazy, that definitely impacts your vocal performance. I prefer to sing live.

Performing live in front of an audience is such a matter of will - all of those things you can do just fine in your basement, suddenly you have to do them in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and it becomes a different matter entirely.

There has to be an interaction of musicians on stage. Otherwise I feel too alone up there. When performing is really good, when it really works, maybe once every 15 shows, it's very special, and you realize that's why you do it.

I'm not that flashy in private; I'm usually pretty reserved. But on stage, it's about not being afraid of anything - of anyone judging you. It's one place you can be free. So why not sing as loud as you can, hoop and holler and jump around? A show is a moment. When it's done, it's over. I find that extremely liberating.