>The Album pieced itself together in the days following my visit home to see Jamie, but the pieces themselves were written at different times throughout our three year relationship. I like to think of it like a photo album... I had a bunch of musical pictures lying around, and I sat in the studio making sense of some distant, and some not so distant memories.

Are there any guest appearances that we should know about?

>There were three of us in the studio, Stacy Jones of American Hi-Fi, Bill Lefler and myself. Anybody who had an idea tracked it, and if somebody could beat it they did. That's how the instrumentation was built.

Who helped produce the album?

>(see above)

What are your favorite tracks from the album?

>I appreciate different tracks for different reasons, and I'd appreciate certain tracks more had we recorded them differently, but at the end of the day I'm my own critic, more than anyone else will ever be. I don't think I'm the right person to ask.

What's your favorite song to play live?

>It's different every night. It depends on the mood I'm in, the crowd, the venue, and maybe even what I ate or didn't eat for dinner.

If you could set up an ideal tour, what bands would you want playing with you?

>If I could set up an ideal tour I'd want to play with Jackson Browne or Springsteen. Though I haven't been fortunate enough to see either live, I buy a lot of DVDs, and can't imagine anything closer to a dream tour than that. It's a very humbling thought to entertain...

Any chance there was some b-sides that we could possibly see pop up in the future?

>There were no B-sides from The Album, but I'm recording some singles in my time off and I think those can be expected sometime soon.

Was there any influences on this album, any points you were trying to convey to fans?

>Not that I don't appreciate my listeners and everything they've done for me... I do. ...But I don't have them in mind while I'm in the studio. I don't have A&Rs in mind, I don't have critics in mind, I'm the only mind in my mind while I'm working on music. It's very personal. As for influences, I'm sure there were, but I'm not aware of any.

I'd have to honestly say the new record is rather addicting, is this what you went for or did it just turn out that way?

>When I write, it's because something's been on my mind and I need to get it all out. If I'm to make sense of my thoughts, I need to turn them into some sort of universal truth, and I think this is why people seem to relate easily. The melody is written with the lyric, and if I fail to connect the two, I usually don't finish the song. Ultimately, like I said, these are things that have been on my mind, so it makes sense that they'd stay on yours, too.

Pressing on, what's the craziest thing fans have done for you?

>They do all sorts of awesome (ok, crazy) things. Most often, they'll fly thousands, and then drive hundreds more miles to follow tours. I've got a group flying, then driving along with this next West Coast tour. They're from Illinois.

What can't you live without on the road?

>So long as I'm getting to my shows and I've got an instrument to play, I don't need anything. I sleep in the van, and eat whatever I find whenever I find it...

Where's your favorite place to eat while on the road?

>I try to find a Chipotle when I can. I raised myself on burritos, and it's hard to find a burrito in certain parts of the states. I also like to support their Food With Integrity program.

Any new albums coming out soon that you're anticipating?

>I don't listen to much music, and I don't really follow new music.

For people who haven't quite heard you guys yet, how would you describe yourselves?