The first time I shared my music and style with my mom, she said, 'Boy, you look like you came right out of the 1950s.'
One time, when I was about eight, these guys started throwing water balloons at me. That really did ruin my summer.
I was washing dishes at Del Frisco's Grille and busing tables at a Tex-Mex place and writing songs the whole time. I did a lot of my writing at those jobs, thinking up melodies in my head.
When I write, I talk about stories and things that are happening in my life. I come from the church. There was a time in my life when I actually had that transformation and relationship with God.
The first time I heard Sam Cooke was in the 'Malcom X' film. I was with my father, and that's the first time I heard his song. I remember my father telling me the story of Sam Cooke.