I'd rather have 100,000 people who really get what I'm doing and like it for what it is than a million who can take it or leave it.

A label's typical plan would be to put something out that's safer and get fans, and then push buttons, but my idea is to push buttons first, scare off the people who are gonna be scared off, and then the right people will like you for who you really are, and stay with you.

Undeniably, I'm a country singer; I'm a country songwriter. But I feel like I make country music for people who like country music and for people who don't.

I like when people have Western style, but it's throwback Seventies-ish. I like pearlsnap shirts and a bow-tie like the KFC man.

I'm thrilled that country music fans like my stuff, but so do a lot of people outside of country music, people who just love music. My goal is more to reach music lovers than to appeal to a genre. I love country music, and I'm proud to represent it, but I don't obsess over it as a category.

I like to make people think a little bit.