You learn new song until you're comfortable with it to where you can record it blindfolded, but then when it comes out on the record, you forget about those little nuances and those little things that you changed during the recording process. It's those spur-of-the-moment things you do that makes it an entirely new beast that you then again have to relearn.

I met some people who showed me a path in music where they were like hey, look, while yes, it can have to do with being popular and making money, it DOESN'T have to be.

Over the years since then though, I couldn't even begin to try and count all the mistakes I've made but also, all the joys I've found while traveling on the road. So in living this kind of lifestyle day in and day out for that many years you learn. You learn a lot about yourself. You learn a lot about how people should be treated and how they should treat each other. For the most part, I've really learned patience, temperament and fairness all around.

People showed me this way of dealing with music, writing songs, thinking about music and shows and our community and the fact that it doesn't have to be about being popular or fashion or making money.

So it's a constant struggle, it's a constant balance, it's a constant search to find the balance between being responsible, carrying on with this as a livelihood and making ends meet, but at the same time, respecting your loved ones and being able to stay in touch and be there for them, at least emotionally since you're not there physically.

The song writing is different because with this stuff, I write it on my own and with Hot Water, we're more of a collective and I love both sides of that. Honestly, it's two different animals but I love and respect them both and feel really honored to be blessed with people who care about it and come out and support both sides of it.

I've always written songs to use music as a form of therapy or as a way to look at my obstacles or my memories from a different perspective. It's always helped me realize the grass isn't always greener and how I need to live more in the moment. My songwriting is a documentation of whatever's happening in my life at that point in time.