When you needed new guitar strings or something, where did you shop? Atlanta should be proud of its malls. Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza together are probably the best mall in the country. A touring musician is a mall aficionado. As a touring musician, I rate malls. There are very hard-and-fast rules. If a mall has a Payless, it can be no greater than a four. If it has a giant gumball machine, no better than a six. If a mall has an Apple store, you have a great shot at having a great mall. Lenox is fascinating because it's laid out like its own microcosmic city. Then you have Phipps, which is even more highfalutin. You need a credit check just to get into it. It's carpeted! [It might be] the only mall in America with a carpeted staircase in the center, as if to say, "We're available for weddings."

What was your favorite spot to turn up for an impromptu jam session? For me, it was Eddie's Attic. But I approached Eddie's differently. I didn't approach it as an acoustic­-folk place, but as a pop place with a great room where people were focusing on good playing. I didn't play many places in Atlanta, so Eddie's was my spot. That's more my style anyway: Work one place until the end.

You're on a first date: What restaurant would you choose? I think I went on a couple of dates in Atlanta. There is Harry and Sons, which has great Asian food and sushi. Really laid-back. And then there's Café Intermezzo. It's just ­Candyland. They have 30 or 40 different kinds of cakes at any given time. And they have a great outdoor patio. Love it. There's also a Thai place called Surin, right next to Dark Horse Tavern & Grill in Virginia Highlands. That's a killer restaurant. Best Thai food
in Atlanta.