I know you’re a very busy guy, so I appreciate your taking the time to chat with me. I want to tell you first off that it’s a real privilege to have this opportunity. I think this is probably the first time I’ve done an interview where I’ve felt so overwhelmed that I didn’t know where to start.

That’s nice. Thanks.

You’re such an important figure when it comes to the Boston folk scene. I guess the first thing I want to ask is did you ever imagine this is what you’d be doing back when you were running track at Boston College?

God, no. I thought I’d be doing something responsible with my life. [laughs] But I feel very lucky, and I think that even back then, I knew I was an artist of some kind. I just didn’t know it in the forefront of my mind. I think if I met myself, it would go over pretty well.

What was your level of interest in music before you went to college?

I was definitely involved a lot in music growing up, because I was in band, and I played band instruments – trumpet, French horn, and things like that, and I sang in choirs and choruses. So that was sort of my experience playing music. When I was in high school, the only singer/songwriter from that period that sticks in my mind is Billy Joel. I had a few of his records. Then when I got to college, I was sort of diving into the 60s music, and I discovered Dylan, and Joni Mitchell and James Taylor – sort of the 60s and 70s popular music, which was great.

Did you immediately gravitate towards folk music?

Sort of the folk singers that were singer/songwriters. The ones that were not so traditionally based, but more storytellers in the contemporary vein. I definitely gravitated towards those people. Still do.

So here you are, 14 albums and 13 Boston Music Awards later, and you’re conquering the world of children’s music. How did The Dragonfly Races project come around?

Well, I have two kids. One is 1 and one is 3. I wanted to write some music that they could grow up with, that was specifically written for them to hear.

Did you take a different approach to writing or recording this album than you have in the past?

The writing has to be a little different, because you have to bridge the gap between parents and children, so both parents and their kids can enjoy it. So there has to be a lot of double entendres, and between-the-lines things going on. And then I just have to get to the point really quickly. It’s like painting in primary colors. I can’t really be too subtle at the same time. So I definitely took a different approach. But I enjoyed it, and I want to do a few more.

Were there any specific things that you wanted to accomplish with the album? And if so, do you feel like you succeeded in doing that?

The main thing I wanted to accomplish is to make sure the record stood up artistically to anything I’ve ever done. I didn’t want to dumb it down just because it was a kid’s record, and cut corners. I wanted it to be rewarding to listen to over and over again, because I feel like my adult albums are. That was the main thing, and I do feel like I accomplished that.

You mentioned wanting to do more. Is this a new direction, or a temporary diversion?

You know, it’s almost in the job description of being a folk singer. All of the great artists, outside of maybe Dylan, have done them. Woody Guthrie has one of the best-selling children’s records of all time. Tom Paxton has done them, Johnny Cash did them, Greg Brown has done them. I’ll never be a kid’s performer and nothing else. I’ll never be that way. I’m just going to be me, and if I’m writing a kid’s song, then I’ll write it. I just want to be able to write any kind of song, including pop songs. I’m not afraid to write any song that comes to mind. I’m not going to try and fit in any specific box.

Have your kids had a chance to hear the album?

Yep, and both of them are on the record. It’s cool. They love it, and they really connect to it, which is great.

Have you done much writing for other artists?

A little bit. Not a lot. I just had Sugarland, a country music band, do a cover. For the most part, I’m writing for myself.

How about covering other artists? I know you do a lot of Woody Guthrie songs in your live performances. What other artists do you normally cover songs by?

I’ll cover some fairly obscure folk singers like Mark Erelli…all the way to the Beatles. I’ve covered Bonnie Raitt in concert, I’ve covered Neil Young. If I find a song I feel that I can interpret in my own voice, and adopt to my style, then I’ll do it no matter who it’s by, whether it’s a folk song, or a country song, or a pop song.

I know you’ve taught songwriting classes in the past. How do you think your own songwriting has evolved, if at all, over the years? Has fatherhood changed your outlook at all, and how you go about composing songs now?

Fatherhood has limited the time that I have to work on songs. [laughs] That’s one thing I’ve noticed. So I’m writing more in the cracks of my free time – on airplanes, in cars, late at night when everyone’s in bed. That’s the effect fatherhood has had. My approach is drifting and evolving always, sometimes on purpose and sometimes subconsciously. Initially I was oversimple, and then I think I got overcomplicated with the lyrics, and now I’m falling toward more simplicity in my writing, and getting to the point more quickly.

What’s it like being a full-time musician and at the same time being a father?

It’s the biggest challenge of my life. I haven’t found the balance yet. I’m still negotiating that with my family and my business partners, but the best thing I can say about it is that I enjoy traveling and getting away, and if I just kind of restrict that to weekends, it seems to be a way to make enough money and be away the least, so that’s generally what I’m doing. I’m just trying to go away on Thursday to Sunday at most, and be home the rest of the time.

Is that your schedule for the summer?

Yes, with some weekends off. I think it’s going to be slow this summer, but the fall will be busy, and then next year I expect to be really busy.

So at this point, you’ve been a poet, a journalist, a teacher, a songwriter, a performer, and a father. Is there anything you haven’t tried that you want to do?

[laughs] You know, I want to illustrate children’s books. And write children’s books, and write books. That’s also in the picture. I don’t want to do a lot of that, but it’s just a sideline to my music career. I hope to be able to do that. I’d like to write a book of short stories, and maybe a novel at some point, and do some children’s books based on songs.

Is there anything in the works already, or is it more of a goal?

Well, I already released one book of journal entries and lyrics. It’s called Notes from the Road. And right now, I’m working on writing some new songs for a new album, and after that, I’m going to work on getting a children’s book out.

So are there any young artists that you’ve been watching carefully? Charting their progress, perhaps?

Antje Duvakot, who came under my wing for a while in the last couple of years.

Yeah, I’m a big fan of hers.

Oh great. She’s my favorite of the new batch of artists who are out there.

So what are your thoughts on the evolution of the Boston scene in the time that you’ve been around?

It’s gone from being heavily a singer/songwriter scene back in the early 90s when I was coming out to being a really good traditional scene. So I think in the last five to ten years, I’ve seen it drift more back into bluegrass and traditional music, which is great, and there’s still a lot of singer/songwriters. It’s still a good place to be a singer/songwriter, but for a while there it was the primary city in the country for folk singer/songwriters, which is great.

Being in that genre, what was it like seeing Boston become such an important place for singer/songwriters?

It was cool and it made sense because it’s kind of an isolated community in the Boston music scene, so people really know each other well. Once you get in there and start hanging out with one another, your songs get better from hanging out, so it’s pretty remarkable how it’s sort of like a graduate school for songwriters. The there’s radio stations, and so many venues where you can play where people actually respect you and listen. So that’s pretty amazing.

What do you think about outside of Boston, in the surrounding area, such as Haverhill, where you’ll be playing on June 7? What kind of evolution have you seen in those venues over the years?

The ones that stay around I’m very proud of, like the New Moon Coffeehouse [in Haverhill]. I’ve seen a lot of great places come and go, because the volunteers fade out, or financially they can’t be supported, or the audience doesn’t come. So it’s amazing to see them survive. I literally could make my living without going outside of New England just by playing the church coffeehouse circuit and the club circuit, because almost every single town has a place that has music at least once a month.

What advice do you usually give to new artists who are just starting out?

I think the main thing is to learn your instrument as much as you can, and become a student of the form. Go out and see people who are making a living doing it, and take notes. Ask yourself why are they successful, why are they bringing people out, what do you like about them, what do you not like about them. Becoming a real national artist versus becoming an open mic act involves a trial by fire. You have to get on stage a lot, and you have to immerse yourself in music and in friendships that are centered around music, so you’re talking about it all the time, and learning and learning and learning. That’s the main thing – immerse yourself in what you want to be, and study it until you become it.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your own career.

I would have spent more time with guitar. It took me a long time before I really mastered the style that I have now. I dove in with three chords and started writing songs, which is fine, but it made for a very slow learning curve. I wish I had played piano as a kid, and I wish I had learned more of other people’s songs before I started writing, so I had a better idea of what song structure and guitar playing was all about, instead of having to learn it through my own mistakes.

Well, you’ve obviously done well regardless.

Yeah, no real complaints. I’m really lucky to have what I have.