Shawn’s a more introspective writer than I am. I’m always writing about me and I’m not scared of giving it up, but I just tend to do it using language that’s more prose than poetry. I’m as much influenced by Joseph Mitchell and storytellers that I used to hunt and fish with, my grandfather and my uncles, as I am other songwriters.

SC: My music is basically perceived as folk or softer rock. But Steve’s has an edge, which I’ve always been attracted to.

SE: Shawn does what I do, and she did it literally backward and in heels. That’s not nothing, being a woman making art and having to protect it in a male-dominated business.

SC: It was a beauty contest in the ’80s. If they played two women back to back on the radio, it was almost a scandal. I have a lot of women who are my heroes because of the same issues. But I don’t dwell on that.

There was a trajectory where “Sunny” was a big hit. That was not sustained, but I was never a hit artist to begin with. So that didn’t bother me. I don’t care if I sell out big concert halls. I have no desire to do that.

I won the Grammy for “Sunny” when I was 40 years old and had made four records, so there was a sense of having paid my dues. When Ol’ Dirty Bastard stormed the stage [arguing that his group, Wu-Tang Clan, should have won the award in another category], it was confusing. You’re in the moment, and someone has taken over the podium. You just wait for it to play out. I don’t hold a grudge. The next day, I got a fax and flowers from him, and I saved the note.