evita121: What made you write your first song?

SHERYL CROW: I wrote my first song because I wanted to be like my older sister, who was playing James Taylor and Carol King on the piano and writing her own songs.

Anne Etienne: I heard you wanted to do an acoustic tour early in 2000, do you still plan on doing it?

SHERYL CROW : I'm planning on doing it, probably in the late spring, because right now I'm building a studio in my house and I'm planning on doing some writing and recording in February. We'll probably do a small acoustic tour in April or May, just my guitar player and myself.

crowhead72: Any hope of releasing the Central Park Live CD on VHS and DVD, especially for non-U.S. fans who did not get the TV broadcast?

SHERYL CROW: I would love that! Unfortunately, my record label just released a live concert from Detroit, maybe, to DVD. Maybe at a later date they'll release the Central Park gig. That's still sort of up in the air.

sherylrocks: Is there a chance that you and the Dixie Chicks will be doing any concerts together this summer?

SHERYL CROW: We did the Lilith tour last summer, and I imagine next summer I'll be doing very little touring, since my album won't be out yet. Although, you never know.

evita121: What's the most memorable thing someone has said to you?

SHERYL CROW: Well, I'll tell you what I hear the most - that I'm short! That's always shocking to people who meet me, because TV makes you look so tall!

Christina Bean: I heard you played harp on the Artist album (that's what the Toronto Star said) and nailed it on the first try, what was that like?

SHERYL CROW: Well, it was really exhilarating just to be around the Artist! Everything in his life is geared towards facilitating making music. So I walked in with a satchel full of harps and he just let me go crazy. As a musician, it's really exhilarating just being around him because he's just so about music.

Jaymi: Sheryl there's a teacher that reminds me of you (from what I know about you at least) and I was wondering how your teaching experience affected you and how long you were a teacher?

SHERYL CROW: I was a teacher for two years, and I really loved teaching. I really put my heart and soul into it. But I was really young - I was 21 and 22 - and I wanted to play music. I felt that I could come back to teaching if my music career didn't take off. So I decided to write songs and try to get my music heard.

Spiceboyz: I know that you've covered some Beatles stuff live, and some John Lennon solo stuff as well - what influence did John Lennon and the Beatles have on you?

SHERYL CROW: The Beatles, I think, for their songwriting, are almost like taking a master class in songwriting. Their songs were so concise and always changing and always growing. The same applies with John Lennon. As I got older I appreciated his ability to not over-think things and still stay edgy. I think about John Lennon a lot when I'm writing.

emmapeel: What instrument do you feel the most comfortable playing?

SHERYL CROW: Probably I feel most comfortable on the piano. I grew up playing it from age 5 and I got my degree in it, so I gravitate towards the piano.

Boytoy: Do you have any plan for starring in a movie?

SHERYL CROW: I don't think I ever had plans for starring in a movie, so whether that pans out, I don't know. Right now I still consider myself solely a musician.

MsCreation: I was wondering if you are still considering doing a country album?

SHERYL CROW: Absolutely! In fact, I've been doing some talking with Bob Dylan about the kind of country record that I might make. He might appear in some capacity on that. But timing-wise, I don't know when that will be.

evita121: Is there some kind of special background stuff you use in your music to make it addictive like a drug? Your music is amazingly addictive. Ask any fan and they'll agree!

SHERYL CROW: Wow, that's so nice! Well, I guess the biggest influence on my music, is not only through my experiences but where I'm from in Middle America. The first record was really about traveling down dirt roads in Middle America. The second album was more a reaction to the big world. I try to approach my records from a thematic aspect first.

sc132: Sheryl, what is your most persistent habit, either musical or non-musical, and how long has it persisted?

SHERYL CROW: I'm a chronic picker-upper. I always have to pick up behind everyone. In fact, I can barely work if things aren't straight or orderly. It's gotten worse since I've gotten older. My work area has to be perfectly straightened up or I obsess.

RadioWoodstock: Hello Sheryl from RadioWoodstock. When are you coming to Woodstock - I mean the real Woodstock?

SHERYL CROW: I haven't been to Woodstock in, well I think since 1994. I loved Woodstock. In fact, we had the full Woodstock experience when we were driving into town, and I was going to small radio stations. We picked up a hitchhiker on the way in and she was the consummate hippie. That was my introduction to Woodstock. It's such a beautiful area! Maybe on my acoustic tour we'll get up there again.

OlCrowgirl: Why did you release the Central Park gig as your fist live album instead of a compilation of live performances?

SHERYL CROW: I don't feel that at this stage of the game, releasing a live album is my major goal, only because I feel that I have many more albums in me and I think the more material you have, the better and more diverse your concerts are. There are lots of really great live bootlegs out there. But this was so specific and such a special occasion, as a fan of music I felt that it was something that I personally would like to own. That's why we put the album out.

Robin: My favorite song is "Everyday Is A Winding Road." What was your source of inspiration for this song?

SHERYL CROW: "Everyday..." was inspired by a friend of mine who used to play in the band Crowded House. I toured with that band early in my career and was inspired by them. This particular band member was so interesting to me and so sort of on the edge, and extremely funny and extremely dark - just very committed to every moment of life. I found it interesting just to be around him. The song is really a reaction to how he made me feel about my life.

Tally: Do you ever pop into small clubs and hear them covering your songs?

SHERYL CROW: I think the last time I heard anyone covering my songs was when I was making my 2nd record in New Orleans. There was a hilarious version of "Can't Cry Anymore" in a karaoke bar that I had to pop in and hear. On occasion I've heard people covering my music. Once I heard someone playing "All I Wanna Do" in a cover band. They never know that I'm there when they're playing it.

David Ribeiro: What should we expect from the next studio album? Is it going to be different from the previous ones? What I'm trying to say is that all of your albums stand out by themselves, are any new songs recorded yet for the new album?

SHERYL CROW: I haven't recorded anything new for this album. Right now I'm processing the past year of work and my own life. I have an idea of what kind of album I want to make, and it's very specific. I think there's a real void of rock music out there - edgy, song-driven rock and roll. I'm thinking about making an album that's committed to rock-and-roll. And then I'll put together all the songs that don't really fit on that album on a sort of stripped down acoustic album. I imagine I'll be making two records at once.

Moderator: For those who didn't see or hear Live at Central Park - who are some of the artists who appeared?

SHERYL CROW: The artists that appeared at the Central Park show included the Dixie Chicks and Sarah McLachlan, as well as Chrissie Hynde, who came out and sang "If It Makes You Happy." I had Stevie Nicks come out, which was a great joy for me. Representing the males, Keith Richards was there, who I've known for the past 5 or 6 years, and

Eric Clapton, an old friend of mine who I've known for about 12 years now.

MrO: Have you ever visited any of your fan Web sites? Do you read e-mails sent through the official site yourself?

SHERYL CROW: I, throughout my tour, was really involved with my Web site. I tried to write daily diaries and put them up on fan forums and downloading footage from the road. Since I've been home for the past 3 or 4 weeks I haven't been as up on it, because I'm taking a break from myself. I don't see e-mails from the fan asylums, but that's all getting ready to change pretty soon.

Vincent Pelateri: I really appreciated "La Ci' Darem La Mano" with Luciano Pavarotti. Did you have a special training or something? I swear you could be a diva in classical music too! Thank you so much for everything you bring to people through your music.

SHERYL CROW: That's so great! It's funny about that concert, I got my degree in classical piano and voice training, and when Pavarotti asked me to sing Mozart, I was thrilled! I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for it, but he makes everybody sound great. I'll tell you one funny thing - Eric Clapton, who was on that gig, said to me after I sang classically that no one would ever believe me again about being a rock and roll singer.

MsCreation: How are you planning to spend New Years Eve?

SHERYL CROW: It looks like I'll be spending it with my family or my boyfriend and his family. Most of the people I'm talking to now are saying that they'll be spending it with close friends and family. I have a feeling that's what most people will be doing.

Dale: This is an obscure question I know, but I'm a Hammond B3 player myself and was wondering if you remember the drawbar setting for "Solidify?" I just can't figure out that sound.

SHERYL CROW: How funny! Actually, yes, I think the thing that made the sound so distinct on "Solidify" was using the percussion bar and the high draw bar all the way out. As well as the bottom draw bars pulled three quarters of the way out.

LaraGatling: What's going on with you producing Stevie Nicks’ new album? Is that still happening and do you enjoy producing other artist's work?

SHERYL CROW: Right now, I have produced four tracks on my time off from the road, and I'll probably do a couple more tracks. She's also doing tracks with Dallas Austin who produced TLC and other artists. I love producing Stevie - she's great to work with. But I don't have a lot of time to produce someone else's record because I've been promoting my own. So the timing wasn't great.

evita121: Do you keep a copy of every song you write?

SHERYL CROW: Unfortunately, I have about 2000 cassette tapes of things I've started and never finished. I think this year I'm going to hire someone to go through it and throw out all the junk and keep what is good. But I'm very bad about that. I've lost a lot of stuff that I'm sure will turn up someday.

Clint: Do you write solely from inspiration, or is writing more of a structured process for you?

SHERYL CROW: I pretty much write when I get in the studio and close the door. I'll write ideas down for months but I don't get in a writing mode until I turn off the phone and close the door. When I let the creative juices flow, a lot of stuff will come out that I'd been storing up. I don't write a lot on the road and I don't write when I'm distracted. It's best for me just to go in the studio and close the door and see what happens.

JessBrasil: As someone who is in the public eye, do you feel a certain necessity to work on projects that are beneficial to certain issues or causes (such as AIDS) in order to heighten the general public's awareness of the issue?

SHERYL CROW: Yes, I do. I think that, luckily, I have the advantage of being extremely visible and I can bring attention to issues. A lot of issues don't necessarily need me. There are many issues that are close to my heart. Like scoladera and the land mine issue that I feel compelled to work on. Those things not only drive my music but drive me to be a better person.

Sad Sad Mariana: Sheryl, what has been your funniest moment onstage?

SHERYL CROW: I think my funniest moment was in 1998 with Michael Jackson, wearing 4" stilettos heels and a tight dress while doing intricate choreography on stage, and wiping out in front of thousands of people, and having Mike laugh while I drag myself up.

MsCreation: Where is the strangest place you have been when you have gotten an idea for a song?

SHERYL CROW: I get a lot of ideas for songs at other people's concerts. I've written whole lyrics while listening to Radiohead or U2. I'll write songs while I'm at the movies, even. I'll write lyrics down that strike a chord with me.

SherylMiHero: I thought your performance in The Minus Man was great, is it going to be released on video that you know of?

SHERYL CROW: Thank you for the compliment. I'm sure it will go to video sooner or later.

AnythingButDown: Did you get to collaborate with Axl Rose while covering "Sweet Child 'O Mine?" I love your version by the way.

SHERYL CROW: Thank you! No, he didn't seem to really be interested in that. After my version was recorded, he went in and recorded another version of his own, with the new GNR. It might have even been used in the movie, though I'm not sure of that.

Lesley: I've seen a lot of people trying to sell your first album that the record company didn't want to release. Will you ever release that record?

SHERYL CROW: Probably not, and actually it was as much my choice. I don't mind if true fans own it because I'm not embarrassed of it. It just didn't seem like the first statement I wanted to make. I think first impressions are really important. It's fine if people own it - I don't know who is selling it or making money on it. But it's fine.

Jessie Burrola: Will you ever start a fan club like fellow musician and friend Sarah Mclachlan where your fans pay, say $30, and they get cool things only available to the fans?

SHERYL CROW: Right now, I'm working on an Internet company that will be basically set up that way, where fans can go in and communicate with artists - like in the case of David Bowie's Web site. Right now, I feel that I'm putting in as much as I can, like being in the fan forum on my own Web site now and again. But I'm actually working with someone on that very thing.

viking1962: Will you be attending the Billboard awards?

SHERYL CROW: No. I can't exactly figure out how some of the music awards work, like American Music and Billboard, because they don't seem to specifically acknowledge what is going on in music.

Jordan: I know that you went to visit the troops with the First Lady, how do you feel about her supporting her husband?

SHERYL CROW: Well, it's hard for me to make a judgment call on someone's personal relationship. The unfortunate thing that came out of her relationship is that there are many women who are unable to get out of relationships in which they suffer, and they would have been watching her. But she stayed with him because she loves him. He has an addictive personality, though what the real addictions are were never acknowledged. When you're in the public eye, these things need to be handled behind closed doors. It is hard for me to make a judgment call. I really believe she loves him.

OlCrowgirl: What goes through your mind when you're up there on stage in the middle of a song?

SHERYL CROW: Bizarre things. On the best occasions, you're thinking of what went through your mind when you wrote it. Sometimes artists think of things they forgot to do during the day or someone they need to call. Absurd things, like a line from Austin Powers or whatever.

steve: I noticed you played accordion on Scott Weiland’s solo CD for the song "Lady Your Roof Brings Me Down." How did you get together and do you plan on doing anything else in the future with Scott or Stone Temple Pilots?

SHERYL CROW: I love Stone Temple Pilots. I think Scott is wildly talented. He called me and asked me if I'd play on his record, and I flew in and played on it. I'd love to work with him again, particularly I'd love to write. As we all know, he's pretty unpredictable, so we'll see how that pans out.

krysta: How do you feel about the current state of popular music and the negative influence it may have on the future of music and society as a whole?

SHERYL CROW: Well, I think what is going on in music does reflect what is going on in society. The popularity of white, high-angered rap music right now is basically a reflection of how men are feeling about themselves, on men in society, and how they feel towards women as women become more empowered and change their roles. I think music continues to represent society and real life. It will change as society changes and the political arena changes. I think the popularity of female music on the radio has exacerbated the male music, as a rebuttal to it.

lilithfan21: I just want to start by thanking you for all you have done, you are a beautiful person. I have noticed that you have been wearing the same necklace since the summer, and I love it. Can you please tell me about it, I've been dying to know!

SHERYL CROW: That is so funny! I think I bought that necklace in a Sundance catalog. I am a catalog junkie! So anyone can own it!!

Daveuk: Why the change to a more "hard rock" image? Was it deliberate?

SHERYL CROW: I don't know if I've changed my image. I'm not aware that I have. I guess you'd have to give me an idea of how I've changed.

Manolis_Varnas: What is your opinion of MP3 on the net and would you release your album on the net first and then to the stores?

SHERYL CROW: My opinion is that I'm not sure what my opinion is at this point. The record industry is changing at warp speed and it's due part and parcel to the fact that cyberspace is factoring into how music is distributed. It's good and it's not - it's an uncontrolled terrain, and the uncertainty of it frightens me and excites me. At this stage, I can't release my records to the Internet without permission from my record label, Interscope. A lot of those decisions are predicated by them.

scfanclub: Sheryl, how would you feel about receiving another Birthday Book next year from your fans from the Unofficial Sheryl Crow Mailing List (Sheryl Crew)? Too many already? Just would like your opinion.

SHERYL CROW: I would love that! I love that book. It's one of my keepsakes from the past 10 years of touring. I thought it was great, and I'd love another one! So get going.

RunMarian17Run: Sheryl, how did you feel when you signed your first autograph?

SHERYL CROW: I signed my first autograph when I was on the road with Michael. It seemed bizarre to me, because I didn't know what people do with autographs! Now I don't mind it. My fans are great and respectable. I really think about it and what it means when I'm in airports - it always feels foreign to me.

Clint: Do you have any plans of releasing a b-sides album for fans?

SHERYL CROW: That's a good idea. I'll definitely think on that.

Spoonman: You have a great band! How do you pick you band members?

SHERYL CROW: I've really been lucky with bands, in that I've come across great people and musicians, mainly through touring. My guitar player, Peter Stroud, was with Pete Droge, who opened up for us. I've mainly run into musicians that way.

Augustine: Sheryl, I was wondering what is the meaning of "Run Baby Run" on the Tuesday Night album? I love that song I can't get it out of my mind.

SHERYL CROW: The meaning of it was really about a person who was sort of caught in between generations. She was raised by hippies in a time of real conservative social structure. I wrote that song with a couple of friends of mine the night the election results came in, when we were watching the government change from conservative George Bush to young, unconventional, good-looking Bill Clinton. That was a large influence on the song.

Dale: I think I remember reading that you have a degree in orchestral arranging. Do have any plans to do more film scoring in the future, possibly orchestral scores?

SHERYL CROW: I don't have a degree in it, actually, but I have a few compositional classes under my belt. Basically I write arrangements and hope that they turn out the way they sound in my head.

SCOUTtheDog: Eric Clapton will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How would you feel to be inducted?

SHERYL CROW: God, I'd love it! I guess you'll have to wheel me out in a wheelchair if I ever get there. I've been working on my speech for years.

CigSM: Sheryl, what is your advice to up and coming musicians?

SHERYL CROW: All I can say is to take advantage of the many avenues that are being created right now to get your music out there. Also, stay true to who you are and don't be influenced by what it is you think is going to get you over, because by the time you're doing it it will be unpopular.

twec.com: twec.com would like to thank Sheryl Crow for stopping by tonight! Any last words for the fans that stopped by?

SHERYL CROW: I want to thank everyone who has sent in questions tonight! I hope that the live album, if anyway at all, is as exciting to hear as it was to have been there. We'll see you soon!

twec.com would like to thank all of the great fans who logged on tonight to talk to and support Sheryl Crow!