STARPOLISH: Certainly it can set unrealistic expectations...

HARRIS: I think it does. I will say that being out with Neil Young has been so fantastic. Here's an artist that is one of the great voices, both literally and figuratively, of rock and roll, of American music, of world music, who has never stopped, as he says, following the muse. Everything goes into the music. And he gets an idea and he trusts that idea and he follows it. And he has had the success and made the money to be able to do it, but everything has gone back into the well.

The New Album

STARPOLISH: Let's talk a bit about the new album, Stumble Into Grace. Earlier in your career you became known as an exquisite interpreter of other's people music, but over the last couple of albums you've really born a larger load of the songwriting responsibilities yourself. Was that because you felt more confidant in your abilities, or do you feel you have more to say?

HARRIS: I kind of felt that I had to do it after Wrecking Ball, because Wrecking Ball was such an epiphany and a resurgence of creative energy for me. And I felt so energized by it that I wanted to go back to that sound, to that place. At one point Daniel [Lanois] and I were going to do the record together and probably have Malcolm [Burns] there and regroup that team — that was kind of the general conversation. Daniel had said to me, "You really need to write the next record." And I knew that you always want the muse to be there, but you kind of have to pay the price, too — you have to bring something to the table, and I had to bring something beside my skills as an interpreter and as a song collector. And the only thing I had was the fact that I had written some songs in the past, and I felt if I could write some songs for the next album, and that would be enough.

So I started with that premise, but as I cleared the table — I mean, I made it a priority to write, so I let my band go, and I left management, I got released from the record company — it just changed me. Even though I did work in that period of time — I worked on several other records, such as the record with Linda Ronstadt, we worked on the Spyboy record, I did the Teatro record with Daniel and Willie [Nelson], and then I kind of oversaw the Gram [Parson's] record — I wasn't on that little hamster wheel of just touring constantly. So that gave me some time, and I did actually put some effort into it and my main priority was writing. Malcolm, who ended up producing Red Dirt Girl, was very, very adamant once again, and although he loved the songs I had collected from other people, he said he thought it was important that I didn't abandon the writing.