There was a piano in the house where my brother Mark and I grew up on Signal Mountain, just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee

Mark was the one who played, and I can still remember his renditions of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.

While Mark read sheet music, I was fascinated by lyrics. Once, when my Uncle John came to visit, he brought his guitar and sang the 1969 hit, “Jean,” and the Elvis Presley song, “Hound Dog.” This inspired me to ask for a guitar that Christmas, and I began taking lessons. I strummed for hours and, eventually, I began writing my own songs.