It's pretty interesting how it all started out. After The Voice, I got introduced to some of my publishing people. We were out in Los Angeles and they said to give them a call when the show was all said and done and they'd get me into the writing world.

It's been cool to see on the Voice all these up-and-coming artists from all over the country just develop and follow their careers as well, because we were all at a beginning point together. Now, after seeing the business side and behind-the-scenes stuff, it's hard for me to watch reality TV and play along like they want you to.

The only problem I had on The Voice, was wishing that we, as artists, could have had a stronger opinion in our own song choices. At the end of the day, it's still a vocal competition show and you want to sing the song that showcases your voice the best.

I got to meet a lot of cool people [on the Voice], and my favorite part about the experience was getting to sit around and do little jam sessions in the hotel. We were pretty much in lockdown at the hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and there wasn't much to do. It was interesting to be in a room with someone that was a rapper next to me, a country artist, then you have someone playing a song on the keyboard, and it was just really cool as just a random ensemble.

There is no way that I could pinpoint just one person. When I first started, I was listening to Randy Rogers quite a bit, and I was also pretty big into Josh Grider back then. I remember going to a lot of Kevin Fowler shows early, and Eli Young Band was another one of the groups I listened to a lot of when I was learning to write and play guitar.

It's pretty interesting how it all started out. After The Voice, I got introduced to some of my publishing people. We were out in Los Angeles and they said to give them a call when the show was all said and done and they'd get me into the writing world.

Albom with Trent Willmon is the first project that I haven't had to scrap money together for. The is the first time I've used any outside songs at all; until now it's only been stuff that I've written. This is also the first album of mine that's had any co-writes on it, as well. It's a big step, coming off of anything we've ever done before.