“The thing that affects me most is animal welfare, and I have a dog rescue called Bonaparte’s Retreat. Saving one life at a time is something I can do on a daily basis with the help of a lot of volunteers. Saving a dog that might have been euthanized and giving it a home is the best feeling in the world. I grew up loving dogs. My grandfather kept hunting dogs and my father was studying vet medicine when World War II broke out, and he left to join the Marines. My aunt took in every stray in Howard County and I got my first dog when I was four. We had cats too. I was always around companion animals and I am so affected by them. Once you get into animal rescue you see the enormity of the problem and the abuse, neglect and senseless killing. You also become aware of a whole army of people who want to help. You are never unaware of the one you couldn’t save, but you can’t be stopped by that.”

“My one regret about my career is that I didn’t take a dog on the road with me until the early ‘90’s. It is the normalization and being in the moment with dogs and they get me out of my room. Dogs can find the little spots where there used to be a real world. They are so delighted to just see you and having them in the dressing room and running up and down the aisles during sound check is pure joy. It doesn’t matter where you are as long as you are with your dog and they don’t care where they are as long as they are with you. It would help a little bit if everyone had a dog. I just took possession of an 11-year-old blind cat. She is gorgeous and completely confident in herself.”

“I love that I have been able to make music and do something that I know I am good at on every level. I can deal with travel and things going wrong. I am good at the work of music. But being able to see the difference you make saving the lives of these sacred beings, who can bounce back no matter what they have been through, means even more. Animals get over what happens to them and move on. It is a good lesson for people. I am so happy we can talk about dogs. It is my favorite thing to talk about.”