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I used to get criticized for doing a 'Bump & Grind' then turning around and doing a gospel song. But the truth is I'm glad I have a gift that allows me to switch lanes.

That's the beauty of country music - you have to get out there and earn it and work hard. And when you're on the road with big name acts, you realize there's no easy way to the 'Promised Land' in this business.

Most country songs, certainly all the stuff I've written, are stories driven by characters.

My wife grew up loving country music, so I always run songs by her whether I wrote it or if somebody pitched it to me.

Every time I tried writing my own songs, they would come out very country. I couldn't fight it, and the more I listened to country music, the more I loved it, and it just became very natural.

I'm treating country music like it's a sport. I'm looking at where my competition is and realized I needed to work on my songwriting.

I was obsessed with country music when I was a kid, and it's definitely had a huge influence on the way I write songs. I was always attracted to songs that had a brilliant pun or a clever turn of phrase, but came from a dark, bitter place. As a writer, I've always gravitated towards that feeling.

I try to be a good representative for country music. But as a country artist, it's important to move the needle and make a difference beyond your core audience. But you can't ever strategically try to accomplish that; then things get weird.

Because my musical background is so diverse, it lends me to have very much my own style and it helps me to relate to the music as I'm going to play it. I just write. And if it comes out country, it's a country song. The funny thing is, I write all across the board. I just write what hits me at the time.

You know, being an entertainer is partly being on the road, and a lot of your songs come from the road.