Wow, this is one of the most revealing pieces I’ve read on this topic ever.

Via the Sun UK

“I wasn’t being true to myself,” he says of the last few years with The Cardinals. “I loved that band.

“And I loved being in that band with Catherine Popper — she was amazing. She was my good friend and I love her playing. The band were balanced because of Cat. I could never have made Cold Roses (his 2005 first album with The Cardinals), one of my favourite records, without Catherine.

“I’ve never told anyone this and it’s great to tell someone finally — but Catherine’s character in a loving way was the inspiration for the character Rose in all my tunes.

“She was the key. So when she split (in 2006), it was really difficult for me. We carried on because we had to. I had made a commitment to shows and records but my heart wasn’t in it. By the time we got to (2008′s) Cardinology I was writing songs for the band (and not himself).