SOPHIE B. HAWKINS

I have to have another child. I have to bring someone into this world that will be here for Dashiell.

It's so interesting that the romantic side of my life comes from my father, who I really didn't even know that well.

I'm always working on a new album because I'm always writing, and I'm always in and out of my home studio.

I want the Congress that really is going to listen to the people. I really don't care what party it is anymore.

I am so proud to be partnering with Waterkeepers, who are the voice for the Gulf Coast's waters.

Very few artists are as independent as I am mentally, physically, spiritually and technically. I sit in my home studio and record things by myself. I don't need to get anybody's approval or validation.

It isn't hard to be an artist and do your money thing. It's much harder to wake up in the middle of the night knowing that you're being ripped off and starting to get this feeling in your stomach almost bordering on bitterness toward people who are saying one thing and doing another.

We're all struggling to get out of the past. We see something that reminds us of something, and then we bring our baggage into the present. Then we project it onto people constantly.

I grew up listening to Beethoven and old jazz singers like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Anita O'Day. But those were, like, the only women I listened to - I hated women pop singers.

I live each day full of gratitude, and that's good for my children.

I was a coat checker, a dishwasher, a waitress, and those were some of the happiest times of my life because I still got to do my writing. You're lucky when you can work and then do your art.

It's what people don't say that is often the most revealing.

My son has an old mother.

Marriage is a walk in the park compared to being a single mother or father. I'll take that walk later.

There is something about the stage that makes it so much better than being in the studio. I always connect with my audience; a concert to me is a collaboration between me and the audience, and I love it so much.

I didn't want to be a performer. I didn't want to be famous.

By pushing children and wanting quick success, parents are producing followers, not leaders.

The Tea Parties are only here because people are not listening.

I've evolved as a human being, and I've taken more risks. I've let go of judgment. I don't know when the best stuff is coming - I sink into the process in a different way. I paint more, and my vision is stronger, but I don't think my music is better, because nothing is ever better than your first material.

I was a coat-checker at Orso, and all these wonderful actors were coming in, and it was exciting to me, so I started going to classes, and my excuse was, 'I'll be a better songwriter if I can understand how to play a character.' Well, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

My true friends, and my son, see me with kind eyes. I feel it. So that's the freedom my children have given me. To be naked in the world with an open heart.

I can be completely spontaneous, which is absolutely wonderful. I don't like it at the same time; no one wants to be nervous all the time, but that nervousness mixes with the excitement I feel on the stage, and it makes for a wonderful performance.

Success was one of my weakest points. I was so ill-prepared for it. I never appreciated within myself the gift of success. I never accepted it. People gave me so much momentum and love, and people really got my music, but I didn't accept it. That's probably one of my biggest regrets.

I don't want to date. But I do have dreams about a great love.

I'm not the kind that could lead the millionaire lifestyle. I've got a truck, and I've got my bike. I've got a lovely Labrador and two kitty-cats. I live very modestly.