I started realizing that when I played festivals I didn't want to be writing all these down, sad songs.
I try to make an album that reflects what I love about country music. It's not just all about happy parties all the time. There are some sad songs.
Even when I'm in quite a happy state of mind, I like writing really sad songs. I think a lot of people do.
I never went out to make the music that people would like. I mean, I tried, because every teenager tries to do that. But in my heart, I'd always come from gigs where I played upbeat guitar covers and I'd start writing sad songs on the piano.
I didn't know what to expect when we first started touring behind 'Southeastern' because you don't want to lull anybody to sleep or lose their attention. But it's really been incredible how the crowds seem to be just as excited for the slow, sad songs as they are for the old rockers.
I always think of the live show first, where the song is gonna go in the show. That's why they aren't sad songs. When I play, I want to make people happy, not sad. It's such a pleasure for me to do what I do, and I want other people to feel some form of that pleasure, too.
My mother used to ask, 'Why do you always write such sad songs?' I don't know if I was different from a lot of adolescents in that respect.
It's not about being happy 100 percent all the time, cause that's just life. I make sad songs, too, that really only make the happy songs better.
I write a lot of sad songs!
I get lots of requests from people to write sad songs, and I'm like, 'No, that's rubbish patter.'
