I started writing blues songs after I got into Robert Johnson. I was deeply influenced by Mississippi Delta blues music and the poetry of Langston Hughes at the time, and I wanted to see if I could do it. The first song I ever wrote was called "Society's Blues." I was 18 years old, and it was terrible, but at the time I thought I was a genius. I continued writing blues songs until I saw something that changed my songwriting forever.

It was some history of Rock n Roll show on VH1, and they showed Bob Dylan (probably during the 1966 concert series he did in England) singing "It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding." As an English major at the time, I was struck by the poetics, the alliteration, the meter. I had no idea what the words meant (and really still don't), but Dylan soon became a chief influence on my songwriting, and what I was doing really began to change.

As the years went on, I listened to more and more songwriters, and my style chang