Singing in second language makes you brave in a way you're not aware of. You say things in very blunt ways or direct ways. It sets your mind free because you don't have a history with the language. You have to use the most direct way of communication, which is saying what you want to say in the way you can.

I did my last year of high school as an exchange student. I lived south of the Atlanta, in a quite strange place - real southern. I formed my first band that year and we just started playing my songs live. It was way in for me to get to know people and to really feel at home there - through music.

I grew up playing classical guitar, so everything I learned was rooted in technique, form, presentation.

There's no right or wrong - I think people can be messy in a very soulful way. The point in the end is to make people feel something, and there's so many different ways to do that.

I've always been pretty unfaithful - I've never stuck to one kind of genre or music.

For me, the guitar was just a tool to make songs. I started when I was 10 - I learned what I had to learn to get my ideas across. I always felt I was a weak guitar player, but now I realize with the finger-picking stuff, I actually know how to do what I do with my songs, but I couldn't step in and be an overall guitar player. But my guitar playing has always been driven by the need to write songs.

I've learned after doing a couple records that if it feels good and it's easy, then that's usually a good sign. And that feeling sorta went with us to Nashville - everything was just natural.