When I lived in Pinetop I just wanted to leave - I thought the city was where I belonged. But now that I'm living in the city, I love it for what it is. It's brought me closer to my art and put me in the right place as far as having people around me. It's very inspiring, but I miss our little town. There's something very simple and beautiful about growing up in a small place. That's where my heart is, for real.

L.A. is a kind of a landing place for some people. People are just in and out all the time. People are there for a short time until they get what they need and then they go somewhere else.

I think festivals are way more easygoing than back-to-back tours are. 'Cause for me, when you get to go to a festival, you get to hang out all day, and you're really taken care of, and there's usually a little artist village where all the artists have their own tents, and it's catered, and then you go and play an hour-long set depending on where you are on the lineup. And then you go back and you hang out and you even get to go watch other artists play. So it's really just a fun interactive experience for everybody.

I've always played music because it just feels right and have been grateful for everything I have and the shows that I play. Even when I was playing coffee shops; it's how its always been.

It's important to keep your creative muscle strong and working. My most inspiring method though is just sitting down with an acoustic guitar and coming up with melodies. It's what I've been doing nice I was nine years old.

I've always been a singer-songwriter - it started off with me and the guitar, just writing songs, they were very simple. When I got in the studio it took me probably three years to get where I am now - being open to experimenting with new songs, being comfortable with where the songs were headed. I'm happy with where they are because they feel very genuine and authentically who I am.

The more transparent you are about, you know, the not so happy times, or the happy times, or the things that you're embarrassed or ashamed of or proud of, it's all in Kicker, and all in my music. I'm just inspired by life in general and what it's bringing to me.