“I went through a record company change and was just starting to get my feet back on the ground. When the new contract came around, I was excited and started writing. I realized that I had missed a few beats by being away for so long, but I took my time and did the record locally, in San Francisco. It was the beginning of a new era for me.

“I was really working for myself. I was writing to get it right and be as close to the process as I could – as a singer, too. I was working with somebody who had become a friend, Ricky Fataar, who co-produced it with me – he’s a great drummer. We just took our time. We did it very organically.

“We rented a couple of big, empty buildings, bought recording equipment in, and we just hammered it out – day by day, song by song. I was very involved with the record in a way that I never had before as a producer and as a guitar player. I had never wanted to feature my guitar playing because I was using session guys who were so great; I was intimidated to some extent. So here I wanted to be a guitar player and be more involved in the process.

“It was a second round. I had my first decade in the ‘70s and the success that came with that; I’d took a decade off, and I felt that starting with this record, it was a new beginning. I’m glad I started over in this way because it’s led me to where I am now.”