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Andy Grammer is probably the closest friend I have in the music industry, so touring with him was just incredible. He's such a soulful, kind guy, and he gives great advice. And he also scares me a lot. He does a lot of pranks.

I have a lot of musician friends. I worked in radio as a music director, and I know everybody hears about the George Straits and the Garth Brooks and the Kenny Chesneys and all that, but for every major star, there are thousands who didn't quite make it.

I'm friends with Dierks Bentley. Aside from that, I don't really know anybody else in the country music field, really. I've met the Lady Antebellum people and I met Marty Stuart briefly once. He's really nice, but I don't know any of them, really.

James Brown was my favorite, my absolute idol. Every time I played with him was like a music lesson, and I never thought I could be so funky! I mean, a white boy from Canada - a Jew - getting down with his funky bad self!

John was great to work with, and a lot of fun. I wish I'd had the chance to make more music with him, of course, and to get to know him better.

I met Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I'm not really star struck by actors, but musicians, that's when I get star struck. Chad Smith is my number one drum influence, so that was a real mind-blow. I spoke to him - proper English, thank God!

Rock Hudson wasn't my type. He's a great guy and had a great sense of humor.

I'm from the Bob Wills and the Little Richard school of music. Bob Wills did what the hell he thought, Little Richard did what he thought, and those were my big influences.

He learned through the way that my father and I felt about his songs, his country songs, that they were great songs. And then he went out and sang them for the audiences that we found, and he found a tremendous reaction to that.