1. So the 21st annual California WorldFest in scenic Grass Valley just happened. Can you describe to people how beautiful Grass Valley and the Sierra foothills are?

Well, you know it's the gateway to Lake Tahoe. For me as a kid, we used to spend a lot of time going up to the lake in the summertime, and inner tubing on the Truckee River. It's just an amazing part of California, and Northern California is one of the most beautiful places in our country. And I can say that because I criss-cross the country a lot, so I get to see a lot of it (laughs).

So, we're excited to be there. To be playing outdoors in one of the most beautiful spots in our country. I really believe that music is the universal language. It speaks beyond borders and beyond cultures and just beyond the verbal language. So, to be at a world music festival during this time, I think, is more valuable than ever. With everything we see taking place in the world, music is one of the few places that still holds on to the ideal that people can live together and celebrate together.

2. Your music is arguably one of the best examples of that being true. It certainly does bring people together, and this festival has been doing it for a long time. What do you want to accomplish, or convey, every time you hit the stage and perform for people from California to Calcutta?

Yeah, well, you know it's funny. In America, we consider world music to be anything that's not from America. The fact is all music is world music. There's no greater compliment if someone from another culture says, "I get what you do. I love what you do. I understand it."

Whether you're from Ireland or you're from Kenya or if you're from Indonesia, you hope that your music can connect with other people. The tour that we've been doing on our own is called the "Love Out Loud" tour. The reason we call it that is because with so much division that we see in our country right now - and around the world - politically, socially, over religion, over sexuality, over the environment -- I believe that it's important that all of us begin to speak out loud about what type of world we want to live in. It doesn't matter what political affiliation you come from, we need every voice. And then perhaps even more important than the freedom of speech in that regard is our ability to listen. With an open mind and an open heart, listen to the views of other people who come from a different perspective, or come from a different religion, or come from a different political party. I really believe that that's the road map to the future.

3. Is there a world music artist - again, using that term - that you would like us to know about, that you've discovered along the way?

I gotta think about that for a moment. There are so many artists around the world that are my favorite artists. One of my favorite artists in the world is Marie Daulne from Zap Mama. She's been around for quite some time now, but she's someone that I always try to steer people towards. She grew up going back and forth between Belgium and what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), where she was born. And she grew up for a while living with pygmies in the forest, during a time when Zaire was in a period of war. So, she picked up that style of singing as well as knowing western styles, and she's just an incredible performer and full of magic, really.

4. So, where on the globe haven't you performed yet that you'd love to play?

Well, there's so many places. Pretty much anywhere where we haven't been, I'd love to play. We just went to South Africa for the first time, in April, and that was really incredible. But we haven't been anywhere in the former Soviet Union. We've been all over Western Europe and the Middle East. I haven't been to Peru, I haven't been to many countries in Southern Africa. There's so many places in Asia. India, we haven't been to yet. As much as we've traveled, there's still well over 100 countries we haven't been to.

5. I'm gonna be exceedingly prejudiced and say, Machu Picchu in Peru?

Yeah! I want to go there. That's on my list, for sure.

6. I've had the pleasure of going there twice, on two separate trips with each of my daughters. It is as magical as everyone says it is, no question about it.

Cool.

7. So, back to WorldFest here. If nothing else, I guess this festival is kind of a Petri dish for discovering new music

One of my greatest joys is discovering new music in the same way that any other fan does at a festival - by just stumbling onto a stage or a tent, or wherever at a festival, and just hearing something that captures my ear. Whenever I'm at a festival, I never look at the schedule. I always just take a walk around and follow my ear.

8. In what ways beyond performing do you try and get the message of love out there (loud)?

In May I was in Indonesia. I live in Bali part of the year, and we filmed our latest video for "Summertime Is in Our Hands" [off 2016's Soulrocker] in Bali. It's a video about coming back after personal loss. It's a really beautiful video. I'm also making another film that's about how people around the world overcome incredible challenges through using music. I was filming in South Africa and filming in Indonesia and I've been filming in the States and in the Philippines, after the hurricane hit there. Music is one of those things that helps us get through incredible challenges.

9. Other than - of course - the joy of music, what makes you smile?

Oh, my family, and my wife, and having the time that I do with the guys in the band. We love to just sit around and make each other laugh on the bus. I love to practice yoga, and that's my way of going inside and taking a personal inventory each day of what's happening in my life. Sometimes tears emerge from that journey, but from shedding those tears I find the joy again. I'm somebody who in my life who has had to really, consciously find my smile. Music has been a big part of that because I'd gone through periods of great sadness and depression in my childhood and even as an adult. Music is really one of the magic keys for me

10. I think we're living in troubling times today, certainly politically. I think we need like a Live Aid-style register-to-vote concert. Are you with me?

I think it's important. We always have HeadCount [national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy in the U.S.] or Rock the Vote show up at our shows, and we try to register people every night. But I agree, the voter participation is so low in our country compared to another modern nation like Australia, where they require 100% voting. It's hard for us to really, truly have a democracy if only a quarter of the population is really what's voting for whoever eventually becomes the president. So, we need more participation, and we need to support leaders who inspire us, and we need to look outside the box to sometimes find those leaders, and we need to - in our own communities - be a supportive voice for our planet, for individuals, for creating jobs in a way that sustains life here, and not destroy it.

Interview by Jim Villanueva