Your music certainly offers "a taste of the back roads," but we know that you actually grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. What are the foods that you remember most fondly from your childhood there?

Jersey corn, back-yard tomatoes and mint from the garden.

Do you like to cook?

Yes, but I wouldn't consider myself very creative. My older sister, Mackenzie, is a terrific cook. I should have her over to my house for every holiday.

If you could invite three singers from all of history to dinner-perhaps a meal cooked by your sister-who would you ask and why?

Kathy Mattea, because she's known as a great cook; Bruce Springsteen, because we're both from New Jersey and I love his music: and Aaron Neville-especially if he'd cook something, because he's from New Orleans, and any and all food from there is fabulous to me.

As a musician, you spend a lot of time on the road. Are there any special foods that you take on tour?

It's so difficult to eat right consistently when I'm on the road. The best things I can pack are low-fat, no-guilt snacks.

One of your stops must be Nashville. What are some restaurants you enjoy in that city.

Faison's, Bongo Java and Center Point Barbecue

How about restaurants around your present home in northern Virginia?

Vidalia in downtown Washington, D.C., and L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls. I've only been there once, for my mother's birthday celebration, and it was truly a memorable feast.

Name three things that are always in your refrigerator.

Baking soda, Tabasco sauce and skim milk.

Do you have a favorite culinary indulgence?

It would be a toss-up between soft-shell crabs and beignets.

June is the month when many people start thinking about eating in the great outdoors. Can you tell us about your ideal country picnic any time of year?

It would take place in the Shenandoah Valley when there's a hint of autumn in the hillsides. The picnic basket would contain crusty bread spread with a little Dijon mustard and topped with tomatoes, arugula, a bit of hot sauce and smoked trout mousse; cold radiatore pasta salad with diced tomatoes, red onions, basil and olive oil; a bottle of wine from one of the local wineries; and fresh raspberry sorbet for dessert. And if we were really sporting, we'd have a portable espresso maker and finish things off with lattes.

If you were to write a song about food, which food would you choose?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because they represented so many dinners when I was starting out, trying to make a living as a musician.