I love playing with my dog and just sitting on the patio with people I don't get to see very often anymore. I'm a pretty simple gal.

I did choir, soccer, some theater. The only weird thing about my life was that I was playing honky-tonks on the weekends.

I have a Prius, but I'd love to have a white convertible like Richard Gere's in 'American Gigolo.'

A lot of new artists sign their deal and then go into a development stage for a year or two or sometimes never get out of it. For me, because I had been a working songwriter in town, I had a collection of songs that I was ready to make into an album. At the time, I didn't realize it was becoming an album, but it was.

There's Kelsea Ballerini, myself... Lauren Alaina, Raelynn, and there's been this influx of really amazing artists who happen to be women. I think I'm not really attached to the females in country conversation as much anymore, but I think, you know, we're here to stay, and we've always been here, and we've always been good.

I think about the people that I've seen change because they believed in their own hype. I just never want that to happen to me.

There are so many fun things that you live that you can write about and people of all ages can connect to.

I internalize a lot of thoughts, and sometimes it seems like I'm not listening or totally zoned out, but I'm always on a loop of ideas and song titles. I'm definitely kind of a space cadet, but I'm very laid back.

The songwriting community in Nashville really is all about your talent. It's not about your image, and you have to be humble. You have to be kind. You have to have zero ego when you walk into that writing room.

I get a lot of my songwriting done while driving around Nashville - sometimes it comes to me that way.

I was 14, and I played this club that's no longer there because it was poorly managed: the Texas Tea House in Fort Worth.

When I look at most lineups, especially in country, women are definitely lacking in numbers.

If I had been thrown out into a radio tour when I was 18, or 17, and given a record deal, I don't think... it would have been a total nightmare.

Enjoy every moment because it is so good and just a testament to all the work you've put in.

I love love songs, but sometimes it's okay to just be young and talk about something other than getting married or falling in love. There are so many fun things that you live that you can write about and people of all ages can connect to.

Right before I go out, we usually put on some Lauryn Hill or Fugees, and I'll do a shot of tequila just to calm my nerves.

I don't know if there's something in the water in Texas, but there's a lot of us really ballsy women that have something to say.

I just love when girls rock short hair, because they can't hide behind anything. I feel more empowered with short hair.

You can't be rolling into town with stars in your eyes. A lot of people get to Nashville and immediately start selling themselves: 'Let's go to lunch and talk about the business!' Then you realize everyone is talented here.

You either have to sing about being scorned by a lover or sing about thinking a boy is cute and wanting him to notice you. That's about as edgy as you can get.

It definitely is an ice breaker going into the awards already having one, and it was just so crazy when I heard I did win because I was in London at the time, and we were doing a festival out there, and my manager was like, 'You just won an ACM.' And I was like, 'How? It's so early!'

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.

Obviously, writing together is very intimate because it's sort of acting where you need to get to a really deep place to get the most emotional song.

I wanted to become a better songwriter, so it seemed like a no-brainer to move to Nashville, where some of the best writers in the world live.

I feel like when I get into most rooms, melodies come really easily to me, and they sound good in my head. I never really know until I hear the song back and it's finished if it actually is good.

With streaming services, the walls have come down a bit on genres. So I never really set out to make a country record or a pop record. I just wanted to make it mine.

I've written some really good songs that I love hungover because I wasn't overthinking it.

I didn't move to Nashville with any inkling or dreams of getting a record deal. I didn't have those stars in my eyes. I just wanted to take a break, relax, and figure out songwriting.

I always go back to old vinyl albums I loved, and that's sort of the aim I had with 'Hero' - just to make it look classic and feel like me, but also timeless in a way.

I love, love songs, but sometimes it's okay to just be young and talk about something other than getting married or falling in love.

A lot of new artists, especially girl artists, feel pressure to be so 'media perfect' and 'trained.' I'm intelligent, but I don't like hearing regurgitated answers in interviews that sound so rehearsed.

It's funny to think that at 22 years old, I was really burned out from being on the road for 10 years.

I'm a control freak, even though I can be scatterbrained off stage. The only way I can have fun is if I know where everything is.

Fine arts education in public schools is really abysmal. The same emphasis should be put on music, theater, dance - anything creative - that's put on math and science.

That's the whole point is just to bring people together in a really positive way and laugh together and cry together and just be connected through a simple thing of a few chords.

It's such a changing industry, and I realize that it's become more digital- and singles-driven, but I still love listening to a full record. It's the artist's story captured in 12 or 15 songs.

Being on the stage is the one place I don't get nervous. Before the show is another story, but once I'm up there, and the first chord hits, I go to this other place. It's like a dream land.

Definitely scatterbrained. I internalize a lot of thoughts, and sometimes it seems like I'm not listening or totally zoned out, but I'm always on a loop of ideas and song titles. I'm definitely kind of a space cadet, but I'm very laid back.

It's a pipe dream, but for me, I've always wanted a Tesla. I would never have to go to a gas station.

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.