The love is so powerful that both people have to surrender. I think that's the funny thing about dating somebody for the first time, it's kind of a question of who wears the pants, or who's gonna text you first, how much am I supposed to put myself out there, and it makes you feel a little bit crazy. But at the end of the day, it's not about that. And if it's the right person you don't have to worry about that.

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.

I was lucky to be in a household where whatever I wanted to do was supported and my music was always such a natural part of me, and I was never told that I couldn't do it. So I've always been able to follow my heart and my instincts and what I love, that being my art. And I know that not everybody really has that chance or that environment, the same one that I did, so I kind of want to help in any way that I can.

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.

At Pinetop I just studied music, and there was no pressure to look any certain way, and so being able to sing and play guitar was enough. But when I came out to L.A., there's a whole image that you put out there and people really feed off of that because of social media platforms. And sometimes someone will see a picture of me before they hear one of my songs. It's really important to have it all figured out so that you can portray what you want people to see.

It's really surreal when I play shows, I'll have three or four people who are in the front row who are singing every word to my songs. The first time I experienced that I was like,"Are they mocking me? Is this a joke?" But it's not a joke. They actually identify with my music and that is something that I'm getting used to.