I think there's probably really wonderful music that has been lost due to the lack of preservation methods way back in the day.

Improvising is writing, too - there was no music and now there's music. So that's composition. And any time you take any sort of a performance liberty, you're making a compositional choice. I don't know a serious performer who hasn't made compositional decisions, who hasn't engaged in the art of composition.

There's a lot of steps between there not being music and there being music. Composition is one part of that, but if no one performs it... It's like if a tree falls in the forest and no one's there to hear it, does it make a sound?

I'm a musician, and I feel like musicians owe it to themselves and owe it to music to concern themselves with as much of music as interests them. Even if you decide that you're never going to compose, you will be a better performer if you concern yourself with the craft of composition.

Tradition matters. To me it's not a limiting force; it's a springboard.

New York will make you feel small. I think that's good. At least, it's good for me.

I'd say playing with a group or playing solo are equally rewarding, but in a different way.

I just love getting as many experiences making music for and with people as possible.

I'm always going to need to play in front of people.

I consider it a great honor to be part of the dissemination of hearable art.

I'm really not handy. I'm not good at things like changing a light bulb. If something is broken, the chances of me being able to fix it are slim to none.

I'll often order a cortado and stand there quizzing the poor barista about the extraction time, how much pressure they are applying and how many grams are in it. I am that guy. It's reprehensible to the max, but it's how I go through my life.

I am an incorrigible coffee geek. I make espresso.

Coffee is pretty big in my life. It shows up in my lyrics a bunch, the same way the ocean does. It's a constant force.

I'm a massive tennis fan! I love it to bits. I wish I could play, but I am worried that the muscles required for tennis are sort of in direct opposition to those required for mandolin playing.

The constructive criticism that I take very seriously is from people I know and respect, and they don't have to be musicians. But I do have to know where they're coming from.

Generally speaking, I think one has to take reviews with a grain of salt, unless you know who the person is and what their qualifications are.

You know, I look at Twitter as kind of a roomful of people who are interested in what you have to say. The people who follow you are, presumably, somewhat interested with what you have to say.

Bill Monroe is not singing about life in America. He's singing about life in Kentucky and Tennessee. And yet it's had this tremendous impact, not just in America but in the world. Why is Bill Monroe's hyper-regional music so universal? We can be so different and yet still share a tremendous amount.

I'm always excited about music, but having spent so much time in its pursuit - well, my musical life is complicated.

I went through a political shift when I was nineteen or twenty. I felt a certain way, and after the shift, I felt the opposite way. And never once did someone yelling at me or making me feel stupid do anything other than reinforce the convictions I had. What did get to me was people listening to me.

Presenting the American songbook as a living, breathing entity that's expanding all the time is very important.

It's very hard to make grand, romantic gestures on a mandolin, and there are times, particularly when playing Bach, that you long for just a little more sustain. But for better or worse it's my voice, and the trade-off comes with increased intimacy. It's like you're beckoning the audience closer: 'C'mere, I've got something to tell ya.'

When they invented the mandolin, it was as if they were trying to come up with the least efficient means of extracting noise from a piece of wood.