Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.

When you get performance slots for award shows - that's a big deal for me.

If I wake up one day and people tell me I'm not sexy, I'm not going to stop making good music and having fun. That 'sex symbol' thing is typically part of being in the limelight. You better be very talented in your music, but it's good to be nice to look at, I guess.

My path is exactly where I want it to be. I'm doing my thing. I'm getting better with every album.

From my dad I learned to be good to people, to always be honest and straightforward. I learned hard work and perseverance.

I'm kind of at a point in my career where I can get away with traditional stuff and then get away with some more rocky and pop and edgier stuff, too.

My thing is, when you put a bunch of rules on a tour, you have to hire three more people to enforce all the rules. So, with me, I want everyone to feel comfortable. It's a lot of little moving parts out here, and little hiccups will come. At the end of the day, the show's going to go on, and I want everybody to truly enjoy it.