“In a small town, it's either sports or a band with your buddies. I was always athletic. But in college, I was exposed to all this new music, and I was drawn to hip-hop and R&B.”

“I didn't know what to expect, having not been an artist before. From the outside, you only see romantic snapshots of what seems like a great lifestyle, and it is, but it's also grueling.”

“I had some interesting costumes... the one that I remember right offhand is Zorro when I was a lot younger. I was a big time Zorro fan. My mom helped me make it, and I remember having a big issue with the fact that she wouldn't let me carry around a real metal sword; it just had to be plastic.”

“I have two or three guys that I'm really close to. We have a great friendship, and I think that helps our songwriting relationship. It's hard to start... with new people and cover the ground that I've covered with those guys.”

“Prior to getting into music, I interacted with, on a daily basis, about 5-10 percent of the people that I've interacted with since then. I've been meeting people from different backgrounds and different cultures. That did allow for a lot of change. I've changed as a product of that, but it's been positive.”

“I played quarterback, and it was a leadership position, and even though I'm doing a solo thing now, a lot of my success is a part of assembling this team of people who are really, really talented, and their position doesn't put them out front the way mine does, but it's still a team effort.”

“Any chance to get out and play live for some people and get out of the studio is nice.”

“I've always craved winning. It's just easier in sports because there's a scoreboard.”

“In a small town, it's either sports or a band with your buddies. I was always athletic. But in college, I was exposed to all this new music, and I was drawn to hip-hop and R&B.”

“The first song I learned on the guitar was a Kenny Chesney song called 'What I Need to Do' it was just an easy song to play... and it was really cool to see that come full-circle a few years later and have him record a song that I was part of. ”

“I'm conflicted about the lyric tattoo thing. I feel like that's a lifetime decision, and I always feel like, 'I hope you don't regret this a couple years from now when you get tired of that song.'”