I'm a last-minute shopper. I end up at the mall or somewhere on Christmas Eve. It's a shame.

I love any and all situations where you celebrate creativity.

I go to eat dinner with my folks when I'm home. I think that's the trick.

If you're really on top, you probably didn't do that great, 'cause you have to water it down a bit for it to get that mass appeal

The nice thing about the world that I've been able to inhabit for the last couple of years is that I'm given a lot of freedom. Not all artists really get that.

Unless you're a true prodigy, you're going to have to practice for a while being bad before you get any good. And it will seem like a waste of time. I remember that feeling well. But don't worry about wasting time, because it'll be so worth it. It's my experience that in the end, life lessons and guitar lessons begin to blur in all sorts of interesting ways.

... there are a lot of shredders in country music - Redd Volkaert, Brent Mason, Dan Huff .. and guys like that