I don't think I'm a great songwriter, but I think I've learned a lot about it, and I don't think there's any one way to do it. I don't think I can control it at all. I can just kind of hope that it happens.

In college I had a weekend gig at a restaurant, a solo thing that was the best practice I could have ever had. That's where I learned to coordinate my singing and my piano playing.

For me, there's a fine line between being a cheeseball and being a good performer.

I got stood up by the letter Y, he was hanging around with his X.

Without a piano I don't know how to stand, don't know what to do with my hands.

I love slow music.

You would never catch me in a miniskirt.

God bless Ray Charles. It was such an honor to meet him and sing with him and actually just to watch him sing from just two feet away.

The pop world is cool, but I never really thought of myself as part of it or wanting to be a part of it because I'm on a label that's not really like that. They're not trying to dress me up, they're not trying to do things like that. I feel like I'm sort of separate from that, actually.

Coffee gives me bad breath.

I wasn't very aware of pop music because I attended an arts school. For me, it was all about jazz.

My first two records are so simply constructed. The reason isn't because I wanted to make simple music. It's because I don't really have the chops.

I don't like shopping, and I like my clothes to be comfortable.

All is fair in love and songwriting.

I try to just make music that I love, and if I believe in it that's all that matters.

I make a good fried chicken.

I like my life. I like my friends. I don't want to go anywhere else.

I love film, and I would love to be a part of something that people universally love as a piece of film. Sure. Of course I would. And I would love to take acting lessons, and see that side of it someday. But I'm a musician.

During my first photo shoot, I was unhappy because they put so much makeup on me and straightened my hair. I've been stubborn ever since.

You know, when you have a father who's pretty well known but you don't see him, the last thing you want to do is start talking about him all the time to people.

I don't actually have a lot of discipline. I've worked hard at music. But I feel like you know, I felt like kind of natural at it. I always had a knack for it.

I'm a musician because I love it and it's supposed to be fun.

When something's ending, you go through so many phases, and it can be frustrating. But once you're out on the other side, it's like you can really see all the crazy phases you went through.

There's a lot of personal stuff that can go into songwriting but there's also a lot of dramatization and fictionalization. You have to do that to make a good song.

I'm not a very dark person.

I just want to keep making music, recording and trying different things. I don't want to do the same thing all the time.

A record is just a snapshot of where you are at any time.

There was an enormous amount of pressure when my first album took off, and I struggled with the speed of everything and the exhaustion from the constant touring.

I'm not trying to conquer Hollywood. I love my day job.

When I moved to New York, I fell head over heels back into country music and probably 'cause I missed something about Texas.

I'm not planning to jump off a bridge with no bungee.

I feel like all the songs are little scenes, different angles, of the feelings that come around something ending.

I used to be a jazz snob, believe it or not. I sort of turned my nose up at anything more commercial.

I love eggs so much. I feel like my day hasn't started until I've had eggs. I'm probably gonna die from high cholesterol!

My mom and I have always been very close. She is my best friend. She had to make a lot of sacrifices early on in my life to make sure I got to do what I wanted to do.

A song will keep going round in my brain and keep me awake.

Sometimes when you're trying to do a record too close to home, you can get really distracted.

I've always loved to read. But sometimes I go for a year without reading, because I forget to.

I could do without 'cool' publications calling me 'mom jazz.' But I laughed all the way to the bank, baby.

I think it's important for people who love music to retain physical CDs or even vinyl, because it sounds so great and so much warmer than music over the internet.

A lot of pop people out there are cool, but they overdo it.

I became a musician so I wouldn't have to get up at 6 in the morning.

I like barbecuing because it's easy.

I'd done recordings, little demos, since I was in college, which I used to get gigs. But I never thought I'd have a record label.

I feel like I've been lucky, because I don't feel like I've ever tried to be somebody I'm not. People might disagree.

I'm not going to play lead guitar in a concert hall full of people, because I'm going to mess up a lot.

I like songs with a lot of heart and feeling and subtlety.

I've been told the weirdest things: 'Yeah, I love taking a bath to your music!' or 'I gave birth to my daughter while listening to your music.'

Success and the art of making music are two different things for me.

I'm always going to do that - record and make music.