I'm part of the party, getting the crowd fired up, singing songs, pouring drinks, whatever it takes to get them to have a good time. When I walk into the meet-and-greet, someone's always going to have a story, a sad story or a happy story.

My dad and grandpa were in the army and as a country singer you're constantly playing at military bases all across the country and meeting soldiers and their families and hearing their stories.

And I'm the biggest country fan there is, but I'm always a little cautious of a slower song or just a song with subject matter.

No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.

That's what I love about Nashville and the music community - seeing kids around acoustic music and bluegrass picking parties is the best.

I'm a huge fan of Billy Idol. I spiked my hair every day like him in 7th and 8th grade.

As a songwriter, you might write every day and throughout the course of a year you might get four songs that are really special.