When it comes to best new artist or album or song of the year, yeah, it's very rare that you see someone in country win one of those. It's a very strong genre, and it's got roots so deep in our culture. I think the pool of voters listen more to pop and R&B and hip-hop. Those seem to be the major contenders.
I love pop music, I love country music.
I thought there was a glitch when they told me that in two or three weeks 'My Church' hit a million streams.
I love all types of music, and I think the genre lines are starting to get thinner every year.
I learned to write from different points of view and not just something I would say.
Being the everyman in the writing room helps a lot: you have to be a real collaborator and selfless, and not have ego when you walk in there. That's the antithesis of the artist mentality.
Food is always a favorite on my docket when I go somewhere.
Nashville has become sort of this go-to writing city for every genre.
I have a Prius, but I'd love to have a white convertible like Richard Gere's in 'American Gigolo.'
It seems like almost every day I've been able to cross things off my bucket list.
I'm young, but I've been doing this a long time... There's obviously a lot of hard work that goes into it. It's a hard town. There's a lot of talent here. It's all about timing, too. I just feel like I finally found the right town and the right song.
The support I've had from home has made it so much more fun to put music out.
It's hard to say exactly when it all started or what show it was, but I started touring when I was 11. I played all over Dallas and Fort Worth, and eventually I was touring the whole state.
There's not a lot of good content to write about when you're 13 years old, so you just have to kind of fake it.
I wanted to become a better songwriter, so it seemed like a no-brainer to move to Nashville, where some of the best writers in the world live.
I get a lot of my songwriting done while driving around Nashville - sometimes it comes to me that way.
When I was touring in Texas, that was before iPods and Spotify. Driving around through towns, I had to, out of necessity, scroll the radio. Whatever region of the country you are in, that's a great way to find out what they listen to. You find music wherever you are, and that becomes the soundtrack for whatever your road trip is.
I think I just knew in my head there was something special about 'My Church,' and getting to accept a Grammy for it was just proof that I made the right decision.
I think I've learned how to be a better boss. I'm the one running the show now, and in the past, I've always kind of been looking at other people to make the decisions. I feel more confident to run not just my show, but behind the scenes, too.
I've learned how to be a better performer on stage and interact with the fans, make it feel like a collective experience more than just me singing songs on a stage and feeling really detached.
