LEO: How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard you yet?
AS: Country/Folk or Americana.
LEO: What inspires your songs?
AS: Mostly my experiences and emotions, but sometimes I am inspired simply by the act of writing. Sometimes it's a particular melody or the instrument I write with that inspires what comes next. Occasionally I set out to write specifically on a particular subject, but I think the best stuff comes more on its own.
LEO: Do you write on a schedule, or whenever inspiration strikes?
AS: Hmmm ... I do both, especially if there is some sort of deadline for a project, or I have been particularly busy and time is hard to come by.
LEO: How do your surroundings inspire your music?
AS: I am very inspired by nature and the seasons and the nostalgia that can accompany them. Sometimes I write about that sort of stuff from my memory as well.
LEO: How much do you feel inspired by other forms of American pop or ethnic music genres?
AS: I really appreciate many genres. I was brought up with so much music from so many angles, it truly deepened my appreciation and also the pool of musical inspiration.
LEO: In the studio, how much do you try to capture your live sound? How free do you feel to experiment with sounds you might not be able to recreate live?
AS: I guess that depends on the specific situation. I really try to get the best representation of the song. Sometimes that comes from a more raw place and sometimes more refined. I guess I don't follow any rigid rules.
LEO: Do you get a lot of groupies?
AS: Hmmm .... there are a few people that repeatedly come to my shows and seem to like my music — which makes me happy!
LEO: What is your favorite song to perform? What do you think is your worst song?
AS: Usually the newest. I can't categorize my songs as the "best" or "worst" because how I feel about them depends on so many things including how they are in the writing process, if they still morphing, how many times we have successfully performed them and if we know how to record them. Right now the worst songs are the ones I haven't started writing yet but know they are in there somewhere.
LEO: Is there a better singer out there than Garrison Keillor? If no, then whom?
AS: I don't think singers (much like songs) can fall into the "good," "better, " "best" type of categories. It's unclassifiable. There are so many singers I love for different reasons and Garrison is one of them. He is my favorite duet partner by far.
c. 2011 LEO Weekly
