Conor Oberst: "The thing I think most people don't know about him is his sense of humor. He's a really funny guy, and fun to be around. And he's obviously just a great songwriter. It's been inspiring to get in the studio with him and see how his mind works, and see the way he looks at a song. It has opened my eyes to all the different ways to explore a song."

M. Ward: "The same way Conor has gotten me to think about songwriting, M. has gotten me to think differently about approaching the guitar. He has ways of using the guitar that might seem normal at first but are really, really magical, and he has so many different approaches to playing. I tend to get bored with the guitar, but M. over the years has saved me many times from getting too bored with it."

Mike Mogis: "Mike and I have really bonded. We're sort of the two gearheads in the band, and we both have our own studios. His sense of humor is really great, too. When Conor and I were talking about the initial idea to tour [in 2004], he said it would just be fun to bring Mike along, plus he's really valuable as a multi-instrumentalist. The guy really can play anything."