Why do you write songs?
I love the reaction I get from people when one of my songs moves them. It's a feeling that every songwriter knows but it's hard to describe. It's just the best high.

Who are your main influences?
I love all kinds of music from the Indigo Girls to Bob Marley to the Eagles. As long as it's good, I don't care what "genre" you want to classify it.

Who's your favorite songwriter and why?
I really love John Maher and Norah Jones. I think they're both incredibly talented songwriters who manage to look cool doing their thing.

How would you describe the type of music you primarily write?
I'm primarily a Top 40/Pop songwriter, though on occasion I have been known to write some more Americana type music.

How would you describe your music and the kinds of songs you write?
Wow...that's a hard one. I think I'd say that my music is a mixture of Americana meets Pop. I'd say it's Pop-icana, but that sounds more like a brand of orange juice than a musical style. Hmmm, maybe I'll just be mysterious and say that my music can't be classified.

What's your favorite song that you've written to date?
My favorite song is a song I recently wrote called, "Glass And Stone" about losing my mom. It talks about how our hearts our both fragile and easily broken but at the same time strong and able to recover. I love to sing it out for audiences and I'm planning to put it on my upcoming CD.

What's your ultimate goal with regards to your songwriting (e.g., successful performing songwriter, staffwriter, etc.)?
I just want to be able to pay my bills and enjoy what I'm doing. I don't really care if I get rich at it, but that would be a great side benefit :-) Success to me is just making a living doing something I love...I love writing and singing.

What's your favorite quote?
It's by Thomas Edison. He said, "many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." I think that says it all. You don't want to look back on your life and think that you gave up one day too soon.

What's up next for 68special ?
I'm planning on touring Europe this summer and then spending a lot of time in the studio in the fall to finish my record. I'm hoping to have it out early next year.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope I'll be on the Billboard charts, married to a great guy and loving life. But as long as I'm happy doing what I do, I guess it doesn't really matter.

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