I'm not really interested in myself in my writing. I can't see myself in the songs, even though I know different parts of me are there.

I'm obsessed with pilgrimages. I love following old routes, imagining the consciousness of those who walked them.

Folk music - and what people are now perceiving as being folk music - is music that's quite close to the ground. The songs sound quite old, even if they're new. They sound like they've been sung by different people for years.

The truth is there's always a hum of people playing folk music in cities.

My dad was working class.

We had no money, my dad was out of work a lot, and we never owned a house. It was very hand-to-mouth.

I really love a lot of early Sixties R&B, rock n' roll, and I love performing songs that have that power and soulfulness.

I can't remember a 'best gig,' and my brain doesn't work in absolute terms like that.

I guess I started writing poetry and stuff and then decided to set it to music.

I grew up playing classical violin and a lot of Bach and Mozart and the things that Einstein loved.

I think Bob Odenkirk is phenomenal.

I'm not that politically educated.

My father was an actor. Both of my older brothers are actors. My younger sister is an actress. For me, that's my job; that's my craft. But then all through school and through drama school, I was gigging and running nights and playing in bands, and I just didn't want to let that go.

I first came across Langhorne Slim when I saw him play live, and he's an incredibly infectious performer. The way he works the crowd is mind-blowing. You can listen to his music without really listening to his lyrics, but it pays off if you do.

If you're trying to do something wholly new, it's hard to fully trust it. But if you use forms that have come before, it lends your music weight and authority. It's also a way to acknowledge that it's not just you who's feeling these things. The emotions are coming through you from a whole history.

I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word - in people's imagination. I've just got a thing about people and songs telling you how you should feel.

I'm not a funny person.

You might as well acknowledge what came before, because you can never do something wholly new. It's not unoriginal to make your references clear.

I had to learn how to work in a studio at first because it's a totally different creative environment to the 'bedroom recordings' I'd done before, where I could translate my own ideas without having to explain them to anyone.

As a jobbing actor or musician, you have to take any work you can get.

I'm not a fan of taking too long in the studio. I always do one vocal take and jump out of the control room, and people push me back in... It's a real turn-off to hear things that are too polished. I feel like I've almost fought for the right to be that kind of musician - we used to be on a major label, and now we're on an indie.

A lot of the work I've done has involved playing quite sympathetic characters.

I feel really lucky that I somehow have blagged my way into loads of different experiences. I find making a film fascinating, I find making a play amazing, and working with my band and scoring things... it's all really cool. I'm just a glutton for experience, really.

It's great to be able to write songs and draw on life, to write truthfully, and to be able to do that, it's good to be exploring other stuff as well.

I'm often the one in my gang of friends who's worried about how we're going to get from A to B. I'm the one running around saying, 'Is somebody going to do something about it?' Everyone else is bit more chilled.

I've never done anything like 'Brotherhood' before. It was a great challenge to take up a part in a live audience sitcom - it was amazing.

I don't really write songs. They're just there anyway, chiseling away at the atmosphere, and suddenly they're like, 'Oh, thanks for coming. Thanks for finding me. We'll share each other now.'

Not listening is the reason for so many misunderstandings and conflicts.

I always love going to New York.

My thing about demos is that you usually prefer them to the finished thing.

When I was young, I was being pushed, against my will, towards becoming a classical musician. I had music scholarships; I had to play the violin and do orchestra practice and that sort of stuff. That meant I didn't get to do any school plays. I desperately wanted to do that.

In my mind, there's usually a fairly definitive kind of narrative when I write. But I don't want to enforce that on other people. I think that's why I like using metaphor so much.

People are stubborn about what they perceive to be the right thing or the wrong thing, and it takes a long time to filter this human condition. There's a waiting period until people catch up. But if you have patience - which it takes when someone thinks differently from you - everybody always catches up. That patience is a wonderful virtue.

I'm still going strong. I have been very blessed and still am. I love singing. Obviously, at my age, I don't tour with as many dates throughout the year as I did in the past. But I do this to honor my father who was also a singer. I still miss him and his encouragement.

I love the whole aspect of music, especially the singing; I never get tired of finding new songs to sing and sing them in a way that's interesting for the public.

Christmas is never going to go away, and it's always going to be there. And there's always room for one more Christmas song, I think.

I'd rather starve than not have what I really want to eat. I'm good at preparation.

I thought I sounded a little like Eartha Kitt for a long time, and I didn't like it.

I got an invitation to go to the Olympic trials. And in the same week, I got a telegram from a... big executive at Columbia Records.

I had stage fright for years and years, and I could hear it in my singing. But since I've done it so often for so many years, you'd think that I'd relax a little bit, and I think that I have.

I think most people don't understand: I have nothing to do with that. I just open my mouth, and it comes out that way.

The one who really captured me and became my absolute favorite was Nat King Cole. He was a genius at what he did. Most people don't realize what a great pianist he was. After listening to him for years, I finally met him, and he was the nicest human being.

I met a guy on the golf course who was a kinesiologist - after I looked up the word, I found out it meant exercise. I started working with him, and that was many years ago.

My mom loved my Christmas music, so I did an awful lot of it!

I don't think about the future. It sort of will take care of itself; there's not really much that I can do other than fundamental things like taking care of my voice, keeping to my exercise routine, and getting some rest.

I have one room off my kitchen filled with nothing but cookbooks and recipes that are sent to me from around the world. Every two years, I have to go through them and pick out ones to send to the local schools. There's a need for books, especially cookbooks.

When I do an album I try to find a producer that's excited about something that they want me to sing, and I check with the record company to find out what they think they can sell - which is their No. 1 priority.

It's always nice to hear people say, 'You sound the same,' when I know I don't.

My music has always been enough.

The fact that I'm not a good musician - I throw it around, tell people that - it doesn't matter that much. It only matters to me, because I idolized good musicians. I absolutely worshiped them.