I grew up listening to everything, and when I got signed to a record deal out of Nashville, that was my introduction to what was happening in country music.

I know some artists who come out of country music and the three sessions a day work ethic where you walk in, and you're told you play this note, this note, and this note, and you don't vary it. I know that works great for some people. It wouldn't work for me.

The bedrock thing of country music is, it's about storytelling. I feel like I was able to find a niche because I connected to that in some way.

As far as politically how country music goes, it's true that it's regarded from a distance as a genre of music that at different times, the more right elements of the political spectrum have claimed for their own.