Singing your own songs is all about individual expression

The most important thing you can do as a performer is to be yourself, or be an onstage version of yourself. If youre not being true to yourself, and somebody likes that other version of you, youre kind of stuck.

That's right, you're not from Texas. But Texas wants you anyways.

You don't have to have anything in common with people you've known since you were five. With old friends, you've got your whole life in common.

Everybody's career is different. In this new age of being able to talk to the whole world at once, the possibilities are staggering, really, to be able to do things yourself. But I've always enjoyed my relationship with the record company.

It's really a lot easier to write about things that are problematic. Who wants to hear how happy you are?

Both my parents worked, so I was home alone a lot, and I would listen to their records. They belonged to the Columbia House record club, so they had records!