“We figured you could download live shows for days, so we decided to go for a cream-of-the-crop approach, but not just take the best vocal or the best performances.”

The music is in the lead here, and a large part of this, I have no idea what I’m doing. I feel a closer bond with the craft of songwriting, stronger than I ever have.

Could’ve sworn I heard you say Amen this morning, showing some kind of sign that you believe. Did it fall from your tongue without warning? Or just another trick to fall from your sleeve?

Fearlessness, absolutely. Discipline. You also need open-minded creativeness that lets everything in. You never want to lose a word or a phrase, yet every one should count. Always the best language possible. And, finally, knowing when to leave it alone. Stop when it’s done.

It’s not easy for a mother and son to sing a duet. You can’t just sing about anything.

My family owns a music store in Claremont, California, called The Claremont Folk Music Center.

Every single time I step into the studio, I say, ‘Can I still do this? Do I still have it? Have I ever had it?’ I suppose there’s a good amount of self-loathing that goes into any form of artisanship.

If I fall, I fall. I’ll rise up like anybody else.

You can kill a lot of time if you really want to put your mind to it Or leave it all behind and never really have to go through it

Let us burn one from end to end, and pass it over to me my friend.

Don’t be discouraged by writer’s block. Writer’s block just means you need to listen to other music.

Don’t let what you have to heal from blind you to how much there is to heal for.

I can change the world With my own two hands Make a better place With my own two hands Make a kinder place.

The woman in you is the worry in me.

As long as the songs are strong, I think you can express yourself in any style and have it be soulful and have it be your own voice.

I refuse to age disgracefully in rock ‘n’ roll.

I’m not going to do the Ben Harper house record or the Ben Harper drum ‘n’ bass record.

Why don’t you have a cup of coffee at least? I, um, I’m a little low in sugar and I don’t have any cream, but it’s real coffee.

A Hot Fudge Sundae and a trashy novel is my idea of heaven.

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.

It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around and all of these games that we’d play, and suddenly it would turn just violent and there would be shootings at 12 in the afternoon on any given day.

When I have bad days, I just eat lots of chocolate ice cream and dance to the ‘Lion King’ soundtrack. It’s really odd, but it’s true.

Whenever Obama uses subtleties in discussing a complex issue, he gets creamed.

Only cream and SOBs rise to the top.

I want a president who can handle a cream soda.