“I’ve always wanted to make a bluegrass album.”

I’ve had to live with women all my life. I grew up with four older sisters, and I was the baby and the only boy.

For every one bad one, there’s a thousand good ones.

I’ve had several working-man songs that I like.

because there wasn’t any live music around my town and no one in my family played instruments.

The loop down through there is just really relaxing, not much traffic.

You have to be tough-skinned and willing to accept criticism, and at the same time.

And just about anybody you can think of who has made country music has been on that stage. That’s what makes you so nervous.

I’m just looking for a mixture of songs and topics that aren’t the same thing over and over.

Oklahoma’s always been good to me.

You think a lot of people get to be big stars and get a little crazy.

Making music is still what keeps a fire going on in me.

I think I’ve always approached making albums pretty much the same way.

The older you are, I think you realize what you enjoy and what you don’t need, what wears you out and what’s important.

If you just do 50 to 60 shows a year, it’s not that much time away from home.

But most of the ones I’ve ever met have always been surprisingly normal, and I’ve enjoyed that.

Just try to do music that you like and you are proud of and not just whatever you think it’s going to take to get you on the radio.

If I have a collection of songs for an EP or mixtape, I create the narrative afterwards; but usually with an album, I have a concept and the name first.

I’ve always felt like I was observing everything, like I’m just looking out of the window, peeping how everybody is living and just penning about it, so I made the album about that concept.

There’s always pressure on the second album – this one has to be the big one.

I would definitely want a hit record, but I still want the success to be around the album. Only the music can help me.

I always wanted to be on tour or making albums.

It wasn’t necessary to speak on the recession, you know what I mean, but I just though it made a lot of sense. I was like, “okay, cool,” I’m going to go with this approach for the name of the album [ The Recession].

I don’t think if you set out to make an album to get a bunch of Grammy nominations… you just have to set out to make an album you’ll really love.

My dreams as a kid were so far below the Grammys, like, maybe selling out a show, or, like, seeing your album on a shelf in an Urban Outfitters… and the Grammys are so far above that. It’s very ridiculous.