You need a platform upon which to release an orchestral record, otherwise it's just going to be an obscurity.- Elvis Costello
You have to face the fact that I have no reputation as a composer; I have my reputation as a songwriter and a performer-and that opportunity came this summer, when I was invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre festival in New York... three nights.
Women hear rhythm differently than men.
Well, T Bone's had a remarkable career as a producer since the time that we first worked together. He was dividing his time between recording and producing when we first met, and touring. We toured together and we were great friends.
Well, I have had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.
Very similar experience happened last year when we released this album, North. It was on Deutsche Grammophon, it was very, very honest. It was the most honest record I have ever written.
These are the sort of things that push you on in music - the curiosity, a passion for new ideas.
There's no such thing as an original sin.
There are many critics who have an idealised version of where my strengths lie.
Sometimes I write notes that I have difficulty singing.
Really the only thing holding a lot of records together is the personality of the singer, and the will to write all of these different things.
Obviously the people that I admired, like the Beatles, were really into rock'n'roll, but it was already a little past rock'n'roll when I started listening and making my own choices about music.
Obviously I got known for some other songs early on, and some of those were rock'n'roll songs. Some of them were melodic pop songs. And I have done lots of different things, as you know, but every so often I get drawn back.
My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant.
Mention Hubert Sumlin, as well, because Hubert's a great man, and again, you know, I do not play the guitar very good, but when I am playing this kind of music, I always have him in my mind. I wish I could play like Hubert.
