When I moved to New York, I fell head over heels back into country music and probably 'cause I missed something about Texas.
I'm not a very dark person.
The pop world is cool, but I never really thought of myself as part of it or wanting to be a part of it because I'm on a label that's not really like that. They're not trying to dress me up, they're not trying to do things like that. I feel like I'm sort of separate from that, actually.
A lot of pop people out there are cool, but they overdo it.
Coffee gives me bad breath.
I feel like all the songs are little scenes, different angles, of the feelings that come around something ending.
I had very modest expectations when I first moved to New York. I didn't even expect to get a record deal.
I like records that flow really well and you don't have to skip around because there's lot of different jumps.
I really love things with melody.
I didn't think it was fair to my music to label me as the daughter of somebody - I didn't think it described me very well and I didn't think it had anything to do with my music.
What I was going for in the first two albums I didn't necessarily achieve. Because I was young and because it was my first time out. And the second album was such a 'quickie' sort of 'Let's just get it over with!' But the kind of music I make, there's a lot of subtlety in it. And I think it takes a couple of listens to actually really get it.
Nobody was listening when I learned how to play music. But there's something about being on stage, talking to the audience, looking at them and smiling, that's always been difficult for me. I'm a lot more comfortable now, but there are still moments of awkwardness.
In college I had a weekend gig at a restaurant, a solo thing that was the best practice I could have ever had. That's where I learned to coordinate my singing and my piano playing.
Sometimes when you're trying to do a record too close to home, you can get really distracted.
For me, there's a fine line between being a cheeseball and being a good performer.
I don't think I'm a great songwriter, but I think I've learned a lot about it, and I don't think there's any one way to do it. I don't think I can control it at all. I can just kind of hope that it happens.
Everyone in my high school was a bit nerdy. We didn't even have a football team.
On the first album I was saying, that's just one part of me. And then I was thinking, well, am I going to hide the rest of me now just because I'm afraid of something? No. I'm just going to be myself.
I'm always going to do that - record and make music.
Designers send me clothes I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing.
There was an enormous amount of pressure when my first album took off, and I struggled with the speed of everything and the exhaustion from the constant touring.
I'm a musician because I love it and it's supposed to be fun.
I always try to do something different. I don't think I've made the same record over and over.
For a young artist to really make it and make money is a lot more difficult these days.
During my first photo shoot, I was unhappy because they put so much makeup on me and straightened my hair. I've been stubborn ever since.
