My dad encouraged anything I wanted to do, especially music. Actually he drove me around to places where I could play.

I don't know if Nashville will ever be ousted as the Music City. But I also think that here, over the last few years, Georgia has definitely kind of risen to the top as far as the crop of young artists coming out of this area that are kind of making waves, you know?

I grew up listening to everything. And rock and roll has always been a big, big part of it - as big a part of what I do as any other type of music.

The 'Night Train' has already been a crazy ride for me. We flew around making TV appearances and stadium announcements all over the country, fueled by little more than coffee and adrenaline... so many fans jumped on board with us, and I couldn't be more thankful.

I didn't want my records to sound like anybody else, and when I've got my guys in the studio, I have a language with those guys because we work together every day. A lot of times, you bring in outside guys, studio players, whatever, and they're great musicians. It's just that they don't necessarily play the way I want it to be played.

If the right thing comes along and you get an opportunity to be a part of something you believe in, and you think it's cool and want to put your name on it, then you should.

I think it's important to do things that you're interested in. I think it's important to have other outlets away from the music industry.