I grew up going to church. My dad was a pastor. I knew that God had a plan for my life. I knew that Jesus was the only way to Heaven. But I loved sin. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season and I loved it.

When the stock market crash, a lot of people realized that the American dream was not all it was cracked up to be. They'd been living for this thing and it was kind of a façade. It wasn't real.

The comfort of that lifestyle began to eat away at me like a cancer almost. It began to rob me of my joy and my faith. It kind of robbed me of my purpose.

I think all of us would agree that a lot of Christian radio sounds the same. A lot of music that comes out of Nashville kind of has a little bit of the same vibe. Because I don't live in Nashville, I surround myself with a culture and an influence that's outside that bubble. So when the church hears it, it's refreshing, and when the world hears it, it sounds like something they want to listen to.

The Bible says that God uses the foolish things and the base things of the world to accomplish His work. He apparently uses the tone deaf of the world to do something too.

When I was about 16 years old, God was beckoning me and calling me. He was relentless with me and I finally just gave up. I got to a point in my life where I realized that everything I was trying to grasp for was leaving me empty. It was totally unsatisfying.

I don't write for Christians. I write for people. I write so that if a Christian hears my music, they're going to be encouraged because I'm writing from the Christian worldview.