“I’m an honest dude, not trying to be anything other than who I am.”
“I do gravitate towards the sad songs because I find them to be more of a challenge for me from a writing perspective. There are things about those songs that do touch people in a way that a fun song can’t.”
“Turkey hunting is my thing; it’s only once a year, but if it’s turkey season, don’t call me, because I won’t answer.”
“Sometimes, you sit down to write a song, you don’t realize what it’s going to mean to somebody other than yourself.”
“Write what you want to write, write what people want to hear, and write about what they’re going through, because if you could connect with the people who are listening to your music and coming to your concerts and coming to your meet and greets, then you’re doing your job well.”
“I’ve always been a ‘small goals’ kind of guy.”
“When I picked up guitar, it wasn’t like, ‘OK, I’m going to be Kenny Chesney.’ It was like, ‘I want to play a chord,’ and then it was like, ‘I want to play another one, then play a song, then sing while playing the song.’”
“Comfort is key for me. I’m a bigger guy, so whatever fits is nice, too.”
“I could play a gig on the moon and not be nervous about it.”
“There’s an authenticity in just being who you are and not having an act about it or wear clothes you normally wouldn’t wear. I’m just comfortable in my own skin.”
“I just love writing songs and singing them. People seem to enjoy them, and that’s all you can really ask for. I didn’t get into it to try to be a celebrity or whatever.”
“I really enjoy the shopping and going out and getting stuff for other people. I could really give a damn about getting gifts for myself, but I really enjoy giving gifts.”
“When I go into a room to write, it’s like I’m not trying to say, ‘I need to write a song that sounds like Eric Church or Jason Aldean.’ I just try to get the best song that’s in the room that day. Whatever style or sound that may be, I’m not afraid to attack it at that angle.”
“The coolest Christmas present I’ve ever received is probably socks. My grandma always gets me socks – every year – and that’s something that I’ve probably never bought for myself. If Christmas wasn’t around and my grandma didn’t get me socks, I wouldn’t own any, probably.”
“I’ve always been a super regular guy.”
“I’ve played for a lot of tough crowds.”
“We’d been out touring for a couple of years before we signed with Sony and everything.”
“It’s a good pair of jeans and a pair of boots that are comfortable and a T-shirt; that’s as far as I go. Getting wild with it might be a nice jacket, but I’m not a high-fashion guy for sure.”
“My tour manager, I met him at Boot Barn. He was selling me a pair of boots… and he said, ‘I moved to Nashville to be a tour manager, and I need work right now,’ and I said, ‘Man, I don’t even have a tour manager. So you can tour-manage me.’”
“Sometimes people are looking for, ‘What’s the next Tesla car? What’s this really cool, super-specific thing that people are going to want?’ But I try to be just like a Ford truck. They sell a lot more Ford trucks than they do Tesla cars.”
“If I can reach the guy in Alabama that hunts, and he hears that song, and he sees me – like, he’s comfortable with me, my image as a person, as an artist – he’s willing to sit down and give that song a chance.”
“I’m a student of Eric Church, and I say that a lot… I was drawn to it because of the honesty and because it’s got rough edges on it. He doesn’t shy away from anything, and that’s the way I wanted to be.”
“I don’t want to put myself in any kind of a box as far as my sound goes, because being an artist is fluid. If you look at a painter’s work, a lot of times, it’s similar in style, but other times – over even a year’s period – it can change so much. I’m just going with the flow.”
“I think there’s kind of a comfortability with me onstage – and I think my cool factor is not having one. I’m not extra cool or extra different.”
“I’ve been singing my entire life. The guitar came to me later on down the road.”
“As crazy as it sounds, my generation is very lazy.”
“I’ve never been too concerned with what I’m wearing, and that probably makes a lot of people angry, but I let the music do the talking and let the image be what it’s going to be.”
“It’s awesome to have friends among the country music community that you know are looking out for you and that you are excited to get to see on the road.”
“It’s been cool to watch the fans who’ve kind of always been there for me. That’s just a special feeling every night: to go out and know that there is people that are proud, not just to be at the show but proud to be your fan, and they’re invested in what you’re doing.”
“I didn’t even know what a tour manager was, but I was the tour manager, booking agent, all that stuff for almost two years without knowing it. I wasn’t overwhelmed, because I enjoyed doing it.”
“I drove to Nashville a few times, met with some people and hung out, went to the Opry, and that kind of stuff. I made the decision – you’ve got to be present to win, so I packed it up and moved out here, and it’s been great. It’s been the best decision I ever made.”
“I didn’t know how to play guitar until I was 21, but from the moment I was good enough on guitar to even put one song together, I kind of billed myself as an artist.”
“I knew I was a good singer – I’ve been singing my whole life, so I was comfortable enough with that – I felt like I could compensate with not being great on guitar.”
“I’m a horrendous golfer, though I do enjoy it.”
“Both of my grandfathers were in the service. It’s one of those things that you can’t be thankful enough for.”
“Anytime that me and the guys go out on the road, it’s fun to step away from the craziness of what it is we do. I just enjoy that time being outside with my buddies.”
“I think the crowds in Europe are songwriter crowds. Like, they are a fan of the words, and they’re there to listen. An American crowd, they’re there to get rowdy, man. And I love both.”
“I think I never had this grandiose dream of being any country music star. I just slowly progressed into that’s what I’m doing.”
“I think that was kind of always my goal: get people to come back and see a show twice and then see it a third time. And now I’ve got people who have been to 30, 40 shows.”
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