Definitely scatterbrained. I internalize a lot of thoughts, and sometimes it seems like I'm not listening or totally zoned out, but I'm always on a loop of ideas and song titles. I'm definitely kind of a space cadet, but I'm very laid back.
I love dry British humor. I love to sketch in my off time. I love tequila.
I think about the people that I've seen change because they believed in their own hype. I just never want that to happen to me.
Being on the stage is the one place I don't get nervous. Before the show is another story, but once I'm up there, and the first chord hits, I go to this other place. It's like a dream land.
I'm a control freak, even though I can be scatterbrained off stage. The only way I can have fun is if I know where everything is.
I don't know if there's something in the water in Texas, but there's a lot of us really ballsy women that have something to say.
Obviously, writing together is very intimate because it's sort of acting where you need to get to a really deep place to get the most emotional song.
I've always had an ear for melodies, and they veer pop. My lyrics are more country - what I love is the storytelling and the structure, how tight the rhymes can be. But pop melodies have always been intrinsically linked to my writing style.
If you think about 'The Pill' by Loretta, that was totally blacklisted back then. But she revolutionized and liberated a generation of women - country listeners and beyond - that were sort of in that box and were able to break out of it.
I'm just so used to music videos or live TV, so to really see something that's scripted and you have to do it over and over again to get every angle - it's fascinating to me. I would love to do a little acting.
I started to see this common theme with the songs that I was writing or co-writing, and it all had this really strong, independent point of view that I had subconsciously been craving from the music scene.
Texas is really special in that we have our own music scene, our own music chart. It's almost a genre on its own. It feels like you can make a great living just touring the state because it's so big, but eventually, I wanted a new challenge.
I'm not trying to dog any artist or genre, but to me, there is a lot of diversity missing from the radio. I miss turning the radio on and getting punched in the soul with a great lyric.
The songwriting community in Nashville really is all about your talent. It's not about your image, and you have to be humble. You have to be kind. You have to have zero ego when you walk into that writing room.
Don't forget to celebrate. When I was first coming up, everything was so serious - we were always rushing to get to the next thing - that we didn't take the time to say, 'Man, look what we did just now.'
I'll just drive around if I'm stuck on something or have a case of writer's block.
As a songwriter, I feel like, just for inspiration and research purposes, I have to listen to everything.
As a touring musician over the last 15 years, before streaming and iPods, you had to listen to terrestrial radio wherever you were. That's always been my way of connecting to a location. Turn on the radio, search through the dial.
When you walk off the stage, I think the end point is that you enjoyed yourself. I get to say that almost every time - either I made a few new fans or something resonated.
Every time I've seen Sheryl Crow perform, it's like effortless perfection. She's so relaxed onstage, but she's really locked into the music and having fun. Vocally, I've always looked up to her.
