I'm not the kind of writer that can wake up and say, "Okay, I'm gonna write a song today," and have that song be the kind I would want to record. The songs of mine that I end up liking are songs that come from real experience. They're like chapter titles in my life.

When you have a solid upbringing and a strong sense of place, that sustains you. My sense of home never leaves me.

I don't feel like I'm on a mission. I'm trying to play music that I like to play and like to listen to.

I've always thought that writing isn't really that hard. It's having a good idea that's hard.

Look around and you will see this world is full of creeps like me.

When someone tells me what he or she was doing the first time they heard a song of mine, then I've done a good job. If my song becomes about your life, then I'm successful.

When I first was trying to play the clubs around Houston to start playing my own songs, songwriters like Eric Taylor and Vince Bell and Townes Van Zandt and Don Sanders were just really encouraging to me and would let me sit in with them during their sets and introduce me to the person that owned and booked the club.