When I hit my 20s, I took a chill pill and relaxed because throughout my teens I was churning out an album a year. It was a treadmill of work then recording, promoting and touring.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I've been playing since I was a teenager, and I put out a few albums when I was younger. When 'Crazy Heart' took off, it gave me another reason to get into music in a more serious fashion.
My first four albums covered the usual youth problems - looking for love in all the wrong places - while the next five are basically about being in your 30s.
I think I've grown a lot in the last few years, and I needed to express myself as an artist on this. It wasn't necessarily about going in and making an album chocked full of hit singles... there were a lot of things I did out of the joy and the want to do it.
In the '80s, I was putting out an album virtually every year, I think mostly based on fear - that if I didn't, people would soon forget about me.
My way of relaxing was always doing the opposite and playing the drums, but I need to be able to actually chill.
My first album was full of ideas and attempts to go in all kinds of directions. I was young. I loved making music, but I didn't have a clear path. I also lacked in confidence.
But then I hit my 20s and only made two albums, and now I live in a ski resort as a ski bum basically.
My whole life was writing, recording and touring over and over again. At some point I realised I wasn't enjoying myself any more.
My 20s was a time for self-exploration and, okay, a little self-indulgence.
My first album didn't come out until I was 26.