AR:  You�ve done a lot of different things � like being a lawyer and working on Capitol Hill in Washington.  How�d you end up being a songwriter? JT:  I wrote songs when I was a lot younger, but then kind of quit for a while when I was working a day job full time.  I still wrote an occasional song, but not as seriously as I do now.  In the late 80�s I got an MFA degree in creative writing, focusing primarily on short fiction.  When I returned to songwriting some years after that, my songwriting seemed to be informed by what I had learned and by actually studying writing. I�d made a recording in the early 90�s with a friend, but we didn�t do much with it in terms of sales or distribution � but I really enjoyed the process of making that record.  And then in the late 90�s I made my first serious solo recording, Secret Anniversaries. I don�t think that at the time I made Secret Anniversaries I imagined that several years later I�d be on my 5th CD, have signed with a record label, and be played all over the U.S. and parts of Europe.  As much as anything, I�m not sure it was a real linear path to get from one thing to the other.  I finally just started writing songs seriously and making CDs when it was time for me to do that. AR:  You�ve been involved in songwriting groups off and on.  Talk about that. JT:  In Austin, some friends and I formed a loosely knit group called the Austin Conspiracy of Performing Songwriters, which was a group of us who wanted to get together from time to time to exchange ideas on touring, booking, etc.  It also gave us a focal point for conferences like the North American Folk Alliance where we could get together under one banner for showcases and the like.  Over in Georgia, where I�m living these days, I run a little songwriters group just north of Atlanta.  Our focus there is mostly on producing new material every couple of weeks.  Writing can be a pretty solitary process, and it�s good, at least for me, to be around others who are writing, and to have a place where I can try out something new without worrying at the time about playing it in public. AR:  Where do you get inspiration for your songs like "40 Days of Rain"? JT:  From the time I was a teenager, I grew up out in west Texas in Big Spring and am very familiar with how hard life is out there for the dry land farmers and those people who depend on the land for their survival.  Although the song talks in terms of living on a dry land farm, it�s a situation that�s not unique to dry land farmers.  You�ve probably seen from Farm Aid and things like that the notion that the family farm is under siege.  The story in that song is told from the point of view of one of those farmers and he has these mixed feelings about being tied to the land and knowing that is his life, for better or worse.  And still wishing that he was able somehow to leave.  But he knows he can�t, because the land is so tied up with who and what he is. I get ideas for songs from lots of different places, although I notice when I look back on my 5 CDs, and the one that I�m working on now that will probably be released in 2007, a lot of the characters in my songs are faced with a choice they have to make at some point.  A lot of these songs are about love or a relationship, but I�d caution trying to read too much into that.  It just seems to be a subject I write about.   A lot of times people come up to me and tell me what the songs meant to them, or that they know exactly what I meant, when, in fact, it may not really be what I had in mind when I wrote it.  But to me that�s one of the great things about songs.  It�s what I like as a listener � that I can find my own interpretation of the music.  That�s not necessarily the way a lot of contemporary country music is written these days, but I actually like leaving some room for interpretation. Some writer once said that criticism is the purest form of autobiography, and I�ve found that to be sometimes true.  For example, somebody might say I write a certain kind of song, or reflect some particular mood.  It�s more accurate, probably, to say that�s what somebody hears in the song � which reflects the state of mind of the listener.   If you read a review of a book or a movie, or a CD for that matter, you often learn a lot more about the reviewer than about the thing being reviewed.   AR:  You draw a lot of comparisons to Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and some of the other great Texas songwriters.  What does that mean to you? JT:  In my mind, there�s no greater compliment.  There are a lot of great Texas songwriters and Guy Clark and Townes are giants.  The rest of us are pretty much walking in their shadow. I also don�t take the comparisons or analogies too seriously.  The critics and reviewers have, by and large, been very kind to me, but I never kid myself into believing that I can be remotely considered their equal.  I�m happy enough to be mentioned in the same paragraph somewhere. AR:  Where is Blissville? JT: Well, there�s a story I usually tell in performance about the writing of that song and where Blissville is.  I think the best way to describe it right now is to say that although there are actual places named Blissville in the United States, the Blissville in this song is mostly in the narrator�s mind. The actual origin of the song has a sort of Twilight Zone element to it, which is that I was driving from Wisconsin to New York and somewhere in between I saw a sign pointing to Blissville.  I started working on the song, and when I got back to Texas and tried to find it on a map, as best I can tell there is no such place.  But as I say when I perform the song live, there was such a place that night � I know because I saw the sign. There are some towns with somewhat similar names, but I don�t have any explanation for what I saw that night other than what I just said. AR:  Do you find the songs just come to you or do you have a regimented writing process? JT:  I do my best to write every day, although I confess that in the last few months while I�ve been out working this record, I�ve not been so disciplined about it.  Some days, writing just means sitting with a notebook in my lap, writing thoughts as they come to me.  As an idea starts to develop, I�ll get more focused on it, and start to hammer out a song.  Sometimes instead of working on finding the idea in the notebook, I�ll just be sitting with the guitar working on some particular lick that speaks to me in some way. AR:  Would you rather be known as a songwriter or as a performing artist? JT:  I think of myself more as a songwriter.  Some other people have recorded my songs, and that�s a great feeling. The best part for me about performing is the chance to meet all the great people around the country the last several years.  I�ve also had the chance to work with or hang out with some other artists I�ve always admired and see how they work. I�ve been places and done things and met people I would have never have been able to meet otherwise if I�d not had the good fortune to write some songs and get them recorded.  The label I�m on is based in the Netherlands, and I�ve got some people I consider great friends there.  It�s been a real gift to be able to go there and play music.  AR:  Anything else? JT:  Thanks to you and to Americanaroots.com for supporting independent music.  And thanks to my friends and fans for letting me be part of their lives.