It's not my aim to be this, like, 'savior for females.' I just want to make good music.

Performing with Thomas Rhett our song 'Craving You,' I'm so excited for the fans to see it and sort of see our worlds come together because I feel like he's sort of a genre pusher and boundary pusher, and I feel the same way about my music.

A really big thing I've learned - and I think it's so liberating - is when you realize no one knows what they're doing.

Just to be nominated, and especially as a new artist and a female artist, is a feat. Winning anything is just a bonus.

I'm not this bright-eyed 17-year-old that got signed to a label and is listening to all these suits tell them the best plan of action.

I'm just getting back into my songwriting groove. It's still pretty early. But I don't want to make 'Hero 2.' It's going to be different.

I've always had an ear for melodies, and they veer pop. My lyrics are more country - what I love is the storytelling and the structure, how tight the rhymes can be. But pop melodies have always been intrinsically linked to my writing style.

'Mr. Misunderstood' - that whole album is incredible and just has amazing songwriting.

As a songwriter, I listen to everything to be inspired... from Rihanna to Bruno Mars to Springsteen to Johnny Cash.

Maybe someday there will be a song I write that I never let see the light of day because I don't want it to be uncontainable and have to play it again. And I have written songs like that that are just for me. It's like writing a letter to someone you're angry at but never sending it and just putting it in a drawer.

I was rejected from 'American Idol' - and I'm happier for it now.

At my shows, I've been fortunate to see every walk of life.

I hope there is a place for me in the country landscape, but I'm not too precious about it, either.

If you think about 'The Pill' by Loretta, that was totally blacklisted back then. But she revolutionized and liberated a generation of women - country listeners and beyond - that were sort of in that box and were able to break out of it.

I remember thinking the Nineties were uncool: 'I landed in the generation where nothing happens.'

I always get less nervous when we get into rehearsals because it just gives me a better idea of how it's gonna go.

I'm just so used to music videos or live TV, so to really see something that's scripted and you have to do it over and over again to get every angle - it's fascinating to me. I would love to do a little acting.

I started to see this common theme with the songs that I was writing or co-writing, and it all had this really strong, independent point of view that I had subconsciously been craving from the music scene.

Texas is really special in that we have our own music scene, our own music chart. It's almost a genre on its own. It feels like you can make a great living just touring the state because it's so big, but eventually, I wanted a new challenge.

I'm not trying to dog any artist or genre, but to me, there is a lot of diversity missing from the radio. I miss turning the radio on and getting punched in the soul with a great lyric.

I'll just drive around if I'm stuck on something or have a case of writer's block.

As a songwriter, I feel like, just for inspiration and research purposes, I have to listen to everything.

When you walk off the stage, I think the end point is that you enjoyed yourself. I get to say that almost every time - either I made a few new fans or something resonated.

Every time I've seen Sheryl Crow perform, it's like effortless perfection. She's so relaxed onstage, but she's really locked into the music and having fun. Vocally, I've always looked up to her.

I feel like, genre-wise, the walls are coming down in Nashville. There are so many writers who have moved to town from all walks of life. There's this immense respect for country, but there are pop songwriters, R&B. Nashville has become sort of this go-to writing city for every genre.

I'm a '90s kid, so I loved 'NSync and the Spice Girls.

To turn the radio on and hear so much more diversity, it's so refreshing. That voice that cuts through what you've been hearing, it's inspiring.

I didn't grow up around a lot of souped-up automobiles. I love my Prius.

I drive to clear my mind, like many people do. It's like, once you get in the car, whatever song you put on, it's so symbiotic. Your mood could change in a second.

I just love Dolly so much, and Loretta. They both are songwriters that knew what they wanted to say; they were bucking a system.

Ever since the Dixie Chicks, the female perspective on country radio has been love songs. I love love songs, but we do have more to talk about, so it's nice that other perspectives are coming back.

I don't want to get political here, but everything I've heard out of Donald Trump is definitely, um, shocking. The fact that he's got women fans is very alarming to me, because some of the stuff that has come out of his mouth is just so awful.

I'm not in the teenybopper bracket, and I'm not in the 30-plus bracket. The fan response has been really widespread, age-wise.

There are so many times I turn on the radio, and I hear a guy, and I have no idea who it is because it sounds like four other people.

I've never been this loud personality. I don't dominate the room when I walk into it. I save that for stage.

I think about all of the freaking talent shows I've tried out for in my life, and I'm so glad I didn't make any of them.

'My Church' - that was really the tipping point of me going from songwriter to artist.

When it comes to best new artist or album or song of the year, yeah, it's very rare that you see someone in country win one of those. It's a very strong genre, and it's got roots so deep in our culture. I think the pool of voters listen more to pop and R&B and hip-hop. Those seem to be the major contenders.

I love pop music, I love country music.

I thought there was a glitch when they told me that in two or three weeks 'My Church' hit a million streams.

I love all types of music, and I think the genre lines are starting to get thinner every year.

I learned to write from different points of view and not just something I would say.

Being the everyman in the writing room helps a lot: you have to be a real collaborator and selfless, and not have ego when you walk in there. That's the antithesis of the artist mentality.

Food is always a favorite on my docket when I go somewhere.

It seems like almost every day I've been able to cross things off my bucket list.

I'm young, but I've been doing this a long time... There's obviously a lot of hard work that goes into it. It's a hard town. There's a lot of talent here. It's all about timing, too. I just feel like I finally found the right town and the right song.

The support I've had from home has made it so much more fun to put music out.

It's hard to say exactly when it all started or what show it was, but I started touring when I was 11. I played all over Dallas and Fort Worth, and eventually I was touring the whole state.

There's not a lot of good content to write about when you're 13 years old, so you just have to kind of fake it.

When I was touring in Texas, that was before iPods and Spotify. Driving around through towns, I had to, out of necessity, scroll the radio. Whatever region of the country you are in, that's a great way to find out what they listen to. You find music wherever you are, and that becomes the soundtrack for whatever your road trip is.