I figure that if I'm going to sing a gospel song I will believe at that momentin what the writer is saying. And if I sing a love song, for that moment I am in love. If it is a lament or a dirge, for that moment I am grief stricken.

Tom Russell's 'Guadalupe' (Is it Tom Russell?) can reduce me to tears when it comes to the recurring line: 'I'm the least of all your pilgrims here; I am the most in need of hope'. I have no idea of his religiosity or spirituality but it is a tremendous song.

I have often said that I like to sing a certain gospel song and added: although I don't necessarily agree with the theology. I have even written a couple of gospel songs, again from the point of view of the believer.