From the time I sang my first solo in church when I was probably 12 years old, I was bitten by the bug. From that point on, I never wanted to do anything else.
I'm a big fan of the Foo Fighters, Ben Harper, Amos Lee, Coldplay, Corinne Bailey Rae and Chris Thile... to name a few.
I am eternally 12 years old. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I like to have a good time!
Staying on the path of who you are and not trying to be anyone else is the key to anything you're doing.
I do know that country music is driven by the songs. I think there's probably a core of what the material is about, which is family and love and the ups and downs of life, and I think that resonates with people.
For me, it was always just taking the next opportunity to sing in front of someone and always trying to take those strides forward to find a place to sing, to make a music career. It was small increments, but I always knew that I had to take the next opportunity.
You have the ability to write melodies and to put lyrics that mean something: to speak about life and what people are going through in their every day ups and downs, the good times and the bad times. Country music has always talked about life, I think; that's what I've always loved about it.
