As you get older, challenges arise that you aren't prepared for, but what got me through it was music.

I consider myself a songwriter before anything else. The fact that I have been able to write both of my records and establishing myself as a songwriter is super-important to me. Some people have that gift, where they can take on anything and make people believe it. I like to do a song from personal experience.

I knew that going on 'One Tree Hill' was going to be an incredible vehicle for the record. What is amazing about it is that my role on the show is, you know, basically playing a musician, and all the songs she plays are off my record.

Believing in yourself and what you do is so important. It took me a long time to find that confidence. If you're an artist and you're taking risks, then you're doing something right if some people don't get it.

I always try to be very human in my performances and hang out with my fans. It is cool to be a celebrity, but at the end of the day I want to empower my audience and say, 'Hey, I am just like you.

I am kind of majoring in bull shitting.

More than anything I want to get up there and hang out with the audience, make everybody feel like it's fun and they're involved and are just, like, friends hanging out in somebody's living room. I went to see Carole King on her 'Living Room' Tour, and that's the kind of feeling I'm aiming for.