I'm so weird and quirky, and painfully awkward sometimes.

I have a picture of me with Lady Antebellum, when they released their first single and I was at CMA Fest as a fan. I'm in flower-power shorts and a headband - so not cute - and I'm fan-girling next to Hillary. I couldn't believe I was standing next to her.

The greatest gift I've been given is being naive, because I don't know what I can't do. And when you don't know what you can't do, you think you can do everything.

I am such a girly girl, and I love not playing it safe. I'm so new to this world, so it's fun to establish myself as a fashionista.

Before I really knew country music, I listened to pop, and I still do.

I get to remind myself and other people to be yourself, to rock you who you are, and don't worry about if it fits.

My favorite songwriting trick is writing something like 'XO.' In my brain, I thought, 'This is probably going to be a love song. How can I change that and find ways to twist that.' As a songwriter, it's your job for the song to take twists and turns that people don't expect.

Being a songwriter is really the base of being an artist, for me.

I started writing songs by myself. That always came from whatever I was feeling and being honest about that because I never had any intention of anyone ever hearing them.

I was this little blond girl with a guitar case bigger than me - it was pink and sparkly at the time. But I always took myself seriously, and I think that people took that seriously. I would tell them about my goal list, and they listened. I was like, 'I want to be the one that swings the pendulum.'

'The First Time' is a song that I wrote by myself on my front porch, in real-time, as that situation was happening to me.

I love when an artist can stand by themselves and play their guitar and hold a crowd, but I also love bells and whistles.

I try to be as honest as I can in writing. That's what ends up translating and relating to people.

I share so much of my life on social media, and I love the honest connection with the people that follow me.

I was raised on a farm in East Tennessee, and my first concert was Britney Spears. It's my job as a country music artist to be honest about that.

My theory is the root of a country artist is truth and honesty. For me, I look at Sam Hunt. The truth and the honest thing is we have southern roots, we were raised in a southern way, but we listen to Drake and other stuff, too.

I remember telling myself when I got to start having artist opportunities, 'Let yourself be a fan, because you are. The minute that you walk in a room with Carrie Underwood, and you're too cool to freak out, you need to check yourself.' I just let myself be a fan.

I try to be a good person. I love Jesus.

I've gotten to be part of a lot of incredible tours and have learned so much from the people I've had the opportunity to open for.

There's a YouTube video of these two kittens that just fall over and pass out. My blood sugar's crazy, so I would pass out sometimes, like the fainting kittens.

I think that every time a country artist steps outside of the country boundary, it just brings more ears to us.

As a young girl, there are pressures that come with any career, but I decided when I got into this I didn't want to be perfect.

With Rascal Flatts, I'm such a fan of them, and I feel like they've been so gracefully relevant through decades of country music.

I am a fan before I am an artist. I was that twelve year old girl that looked up to Taylor Swift. I get what that role is as a fan. I think that because I know that, I'm really careful and intentional about what I say and what I put out. I want to be that role for anyone who wants me to be that.