I quickly learned to take anger and use it to motivate me. My sister ran away from home, and she was my world. And that was that. The guitar became my world.

The Graces was a great experience; it's great working with women, but we weren't put together in an organic way, and I think that's why we didn't stay together. There wasn't that natural friendship.

I've also been writing for other artists, producing other artists, doing some country stuff. Those lyrics I tend to leave more universal.

A long term goal is to encourage students to start doing concerts in which I or the other artists will come back at the end of the school year to see their concerts.

I've come up against a few challenges. I've just taken them on with a really pure energy. I'm not out to change people's minds. I'm out to maybe educate and inspire.

I want to break the old paradigm of thinking that if you're successful, you have to crash and burn-that all of this won't be there tomorrow.

If a person ever came to me as a fan and tried to go out on a date, I wouldn't. I've had enough kind of crazy experiences in that department.