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When somebody like Elvis Costello comes along, anybody can make a good record with him.

The stuff I write I'm very proud of, but I'm smart enough to know I'll never get on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' next to Elvis Costello.

I've always loved both writing and songwriting. The journey is fascinating to me.

What I've learned over the years is that the craft of songwriting is trying to take the personal and make it universal - or in the case of telling a story, taking the universal and making it personal.

I've been here all the time; I could be putting out as many albums as Costello, y'know what I mean?

You know, I would say that songwriting is something about the expression of the heart, the intellect and the soul.

I really like this trend of songwriting that is honest and intelligent and serious and longing.

I learned that the songs that mean the most to me are the songs that I write by myself. While there were people I wrote really well with, particularly Gary Nicholson and Delbert McClinton, and I really enjoyed the experience, I came away from it feeling like I need to write by myself.

That's what I love about songwriting - that you can write something about your own experiences and think it's completely specific to you, and then people can take away a completely different meaning for themselves. I really love that. I think you've been successful at writing a song when it has a larger life than yourself.