I've always expressed myself on guitar, and so I look at it as another voice that is available to say what you need to say.
Some people are songwriters, and some people are just recording artists. I'm both. I write and record.
I definitely respect the men and women who came before me and how much those people gave to me musically.
I started off as a bar band. We played ZZ Top, Bob Seger, Waylon Jennings, the Rolling Stones - everything and anything people wanted to hear. You're not really selling yourself back then; you're selling beer.
Are you really into pop? Are you really into old country? Blues? If you're not honest about your influences, then things don't sound as real as they can be. They're not as sharp a cheddar cheese as they can be. And I'm trying to be the sharpest cheddar I can be.
'You'll Accomp'ny Me' is a song I've always really cherished. The guy in that song is just so courageous. He's saying this to the girl, 'I know you've got to go do your thing, but eventually, we'll be together. I feel that strong, and I know it in my soul.' And there's something really cool about that.
I've always been a band guy. That's my wheelhouse. That's what I do.
That's what music-making is: a dialogue.
I'm the world's biggest Bob Seger fan. He's like my Elvis.
'Boys of Summer,' to me, is like the end of the summer, man. That heartbreaking feeling where you have to go back to school, your summer love is coming to an end, and the leaves are changing. That was always such an emotional time for me as a kid, because I loved summer so much.
I've never felt the least bit entitled to airplay. Each spin I get means the world to me.
I'm a Detroit Tigers fan through and through.
My dad is a big Outlaw country guy - Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Waylon, Willie. He loves Elvis and turned me onto Elvis. He was always playing me stuff. He and I would sing and entertain the family. We'd have a little skit on Thanksgiving or whatever.
I'm a huge Travis Tritt fan. I'm a big Southern rock guy.
It sounds boring, but I'm such a guitar junkie and a gear junkie. I'm always fiddling with my stuff. It's relaxing to me... I'm always pulling my stuff apart, getting my pedal board out and fiddling with it or changing guitar strings.
I've always been a strategy kind of guy. I like laying things out and having a plan. Maybe not always a plan, but an approach and a vibe.
All my influences go into a pot like a big ole stew, and it tastes like all the years I spent trying to play the guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughn. It tastes like Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. And if it comes out bluesy, then so be it.
There are a lot of country artists now that are heavily influenced by hip-hop. That's not me. I was very heavily influenced by rock & roll.
Go on stage and stomp my foot on stage and play my guitar and sing my guts out because I love to entertain people. That's what makes me happy.
I'm always moving like a kid. I'm always bouncing around and never sit still.
