17 Quotes by Shane McAnally

We'll set up a demo session and try to knock out eight or ten songs and make them sound as close as we can to a record with the money and time we have.

One of the greatest tools you have as a songwriter is anonymity. If someone knows too much about the songwriter, they don't get to insert their own characters. I don't want the audience thinking about the gay guy who wrote the song.

If the right idea comes up, and it feels true to talk about somebody being in a truck, and that's the only way to tell the story, then I will reluctantly tell the story that way.

I have a hard time being happy, and I think a lot of creative people suffer with that when life gets real happy.

I always loved Willie Nelson, but I loved the songs that Willie made famous.

Nashville is a boys' club of redneck conservative ideas. But they're ready to embrace gay people. I never felt for one second that someone was judging me. Some people are like, 'Oh, I love gay people' in that 'I have lots of black friends' kind of way. It's awkward, but you have to appreciate that they're trying.

When something works on a huge level, everybody does it.

West Hollywood blew my mind: gay men walking down the street, kissing and holding hands. I'd never imagined there was a place like that.

When I stopped hiding who I am, I started writing hits.