I loved the experience of going to the farmers' market, seeing where your food is grown, turning it into something delicious.

When people see a talented girl, it calls to mind the very rare breed of women who have managed to succeed. If I were a dude with the exact same voice, band and songs, I doubt they'd compare me to Sheryl Crow. But hey, I'm not complaining. Big fish, small pond.

Being on a major label is like living at your friend's parent's mansion: It's a lot nicer than any apartment we could afford, and the fridge is always full of food.

We are all just the tip of a pinprick of the millions of things that had to happen in order for us to be here.

My mom was a piano teacher. It turned into something of a competition between me and her students... I liked the idea that I needed to be better than everybody else.

What I'm wearing changes everything about how the show goes. If I'm wearing blue jeans and flannel, it's going to be a country show, and I'm going to get my twang on. But if I'm wearing a flapper dress, fringe or sequins, I'm rocking out, Tina Turner style.

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved dressing up.

The misconception about the record company is that they were the ones who got me wearing short skirts, or got me to do my hair blond, or got me to dance around onstage and start doing different things with my clothes. No, that was actually all me.

I hear it all the time: 'What happened to the Grace Potter who didn't used to wear makeup?'

Think about what makes a band burn out. They get too successful too fast. And then they take it for granted. And they get entitled. And they get picky. We don't ever allow ourselves that possibility.

Follow your path unapologetically. Be compassionate.

Spirituality is complicated. I do not belong to any particular religious group, but I have profound respect for people who devote their lives to faith.

Set lists are like movies. They need a great beginning, a dynamic shift in the middle, and bang at the end.

We are definitely a team, from each band member to our management/booking agent. I like to be as involved as possible with business decisions, but at a certain point, it's important to me to step aside and let the professionals do their thing.

I always loved the piano because it's just a bunch of buttons. I like to push buttons.

I see musicians like Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris as more than just musical icons: they are planets, with a gravitational pull - from how they flip their hair just-so when they bow, right down to their hearty backstage banter. It takes decades to learn the innuendos of being gracious and genuine all at once.

I've been singing since I could talk. I started playing the piano when I was about 5 or 6. I picked up the guitar on my 20th birthday.

I'm quite a nurturing person, and I'm more a mom than a crazy, partying rock star.

Honestly, I don't think I ever really was a sweet country girl. I think that was a misconception about me. I was always bad.

Any time you write a song, you kind of know what you want from it. You know what you're getting from it.

With my childhood and growing up in a very free place where my parents were artists and always encouraging me to explore, you wouldn't think I was locked up in my own mind, but I was.

I was always sort of mystified and excited about the world of country music. Something about it struck me as enchanted.

I really love what Chuck Berry did with Christmas music, and also the Rat Pack Christmas stuff, which I listened to all through my childhood.

I admire pop stars, and there's parts of that world I'm glad I don't have to go through. It takes a lot of work to do the things they do.