“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.”

“Certain kinds of people will always have an issue with my music. But that's fine; it's OK. I don't want to be the McDonald's of music. I don't want to not turn anyone off. If you were everybody's cup of tea, you'd probably be boring.”

“I don't push buttons to push buttons. Throwing the rebel card out there is really cheap.”

“I feel like, big city or small town, you can relate to following your parents' footsteps or putting your own dreams on the back burner or vices that we get caught up in - that whole cycle. That's not just a small-town thing. That's a life thing.”

“I like to make people think a little bit.”

“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 love words. They're fun. I don't think any word can just be filler. There's no room for it. It's like a puzzle. Every song can be written a million times. How can you say it differently?”

“I realize that I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea, and that's okay. I think that's the point of music.”

“I see my fans as music lovers. I really love that. There's no age group or demographic. It's people of all ages and backgrounds. Country people and non-country people. I wanted to make music across the board.”

“I think if you're everyone's cup of tea, that probably means you're a little bit boring, or you're not pushing yourself. Creativity happens where it's dangerous and scary: where you're not comfortable.”

“I used to love, and I still do, Lee Ann Womack. And Alison Krauss. I mean, how many Grammys does she have? She's just remained solid and true and great, and I respect that.”

“I wouldn't ever do a radio edit because I feel like it would totally go against the point of 'Follow Your Arrow.' I just think you're going to like it or not like it.”

“I'm all about small towns. I think it's a great place to grow up.”

“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.”

“In the beginning, I wrote OK songs, but they didn't have a unique perspective.”

“It's weird, because the ideas in my songs aren't controversial to me. I feel like I should be able to sing about anything.”

“Lee Ann Womack is from near where I grew up in East Texas, so I've always looked up to her. I sang a lot of Dolly Parton as a kid and a lot of traditional western swing, like Patsy Cline and Roy Rogers.”

“Look at Loretta Lynn. Look at Jeannie C. Rily singing 'Harper Valley PTA' and Tammy Wynette singing about divorce. They were ahead of their times in a lot of ways.”

“Loretta Lynn was one of those ladies a long time ago that opened a lot of doors and paved the way for a lot of ballsy singer-songwriters who weren't just cute.”

“My fans are pretty spot-on with their gifts. This girl that was super into baking had made this entire batch of cookies - there were one with a dandelion on it, one with a trailer, and some had my face.”

“My parents aren't crazy conservative. They're actually pretty open-minded. But my grandparents are, and where I'm from, East Texas, is the Bible Belt.”

“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.”

“When I started out, I wanted to be the kind of artist who could play the CMA Music Festival and then turn around and play Bonnaroo, and I've managed to do both.”

“When I was nine, I was singing western swing: Roy Rogers and Patsy Cline. It got me noticed because no one my age was doing it, but it made me feel inferior because none of my friends could relate to it.”

“When something comes to my brain, I don't ignore it. You never know what it's going to turn into.”

“You can't beat Freddie Mercury. He was a mad man in the best sense possible.”