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I didn't really know you could make a living in songwriting. I was just very fortunate to have the opportunity to play a few songs for a guy there named Jimmy Ritchey. Through that meeting, I met another couple guys and ended up getting a publishing deal in Nashville.

Sam Hunt

You Writing Very

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It's good to be proud of your heritage and your culture, but pride can be perverted.

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There's not a day goes by that I don't appreciate the freedom that I have to make music and tour and spend time with my family.

Time Music Freedom

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I like disagreement because it forces both sides to question their own opinions and why they feel that way.

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It wasn't until I was 18, when I was graduating high school, that I went and bought a guitar on a whim.

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I wrote a song several years ago while I was in college called 'Muscadine Wine.' I really didn't know if it had potential or not, if it was good or bad or what. I played it for my roommates - who I played ball with - one night, and I knew they would tell me the truth. They loved it, and that encouraged me.

Truth Love Good

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New experiences give you new perspectives on life.

Life Experience You

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'Make You Miss Me' is an important song to me. Having it go No. 1 as the fifth single off of my first record is the cherry on top of a chapter in my life I'll never forget.

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There's this sort of model that exists in Nashville that we think we have to abide by: You put out a record, and in two years you have to put out another one and have three or four singles. There are all these rules that I've just sort of thrown out the window.

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I experimented and explored ways to find my own niche in Nashville, and I was having trouble with it for a while because stylistically, I didn't feel like I necessarily fit in.

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I'm still learning a lot as a songwriter. I try to write down and make a note of ideas that I cross paths with on a day-to-day basis, whether it be a conversation or something I hear on the radio, seeing a movie, or just thoughts in my head as I'm walking down the street.

Learning Writer Write

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I was pretty gung-ho about music and pursuing that and figuring that whole thing out, so I was wide-eyed and ready to go when I moved to Nashville. I never looked back.

Music Wide Whole

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I got a horse when I was eight or 10 years old. And dad used to take me to the rodeo back home. I got into it big time.

Time Home Years

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I think that people in general appreciate honesty and not trying to cook something up just to fit a mold that would be beneficial for you. I never made music like that.

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I think of a song in terms of lyrics and stories, and that's what keeps it country for me.

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I've always really liked the rhythm element of songs.

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People sniff out when you try to fake something or be something you are not.

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As much as I enjoy traveling and playing on stage as an artist, I really find my true sense of purpose in a room writing a song.

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Putting out music as it's made, versus holding it until an album's finished, allows me to be more timely and maintain balance.

Time Music Versus

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I do feel pressure internally and externally to put out music, but that excites me because I love songwriting, and this brings me back to why I got in music in the first place, so I'm excited about that.

Music Love Writing

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I'm conflicted about the lyric tattoo thing. I feel like that's a lifetime decision, and I always feel like, 'I hope you don't regret this a couple years from now when you get tired of that song.'

I kind of have my little OCD wood shed at my house where everything is just right when I go write.

I don't know that I've ever bought anything online. I'm about 10 years behind the technological curve, I think.

Maybe one day music will just be music, and there won't be these categories; it'll just be different shades of music.

It took me a couple years to get over the stereotype I was letting myself get caught up on, being a football player trying to start a career in music.

Shane McAnally is a really good friend of mine. He's one of the first guys that really embraced what I was doing with an open mind.

The key to me is being different not for the sake of being different, but being the most authentic version of what you do. And definitely it takes a willingness to be different, because there was resistance for me early on, and I feel like that's usually the case when there's a certain paradigm or trend happening, and you step outside of that.

With a song called 'House Party,' you'd expect it to be more about a big party, not as much about a relationship, so we tried to put a little bit of a unique twist on it.

Football sometimes is stressful. Music is more of a kind of laid-back type, chilled-out kind of activity. It kind of keeps me balanced, I guess.

I played quarterback, and it was a leadership position, and even though I'm doing a solo thing now, a lot of my success is a part of assembling this team of people who are really, really talented, and their position doesn't put them out front the way mine does, but it's still a team effort.

I had some interesting costumes... the one that I remember right offhand is Zorro when I was a lot younger. I was a big time Zorro fan. My mom helped me make it, and I remember having a big issue with the fact that she wouldn't let me carry around a real metal sword; it just had to be plastic.

To all my people back in Nashville who have been there from the start, you put your faith in me. You were there for the long haul.

At heart, I'm a relationship guy, but my adventurous side makes it hard. I hope I'll find a balance.

I didn't really know you could make a living in songwriting. I was just very fortunate to have the opportunity to play a few songs for a guy there named Jimmy Ritchey. Through that meeting, I met another couple guys and ended up getting a publishing deal in Nashville.

I don't get irrational about it, but I do have a deeply-rooted competitive spirit. Not necessarily towards other people, but towards any obstacle that I set for myself.

My route is a little bit nontraditional. A lot of the people working in Nashville, they have a model. I don't really fit into that.

Obviously, I love country music, so I wanna be able to live in the country music genre and then play to country music fans.

I wasn't intentionally trying to be different, but that was an element of what I naturally do that happened to be unique enough to spark a curiosity for people.

I definitely grew up as a small-town... I guess you could call it the 'small-town football player,' according to the stereotype. I wasn't involved in music at all.

Prior to getting into music, I interacted with, on a daily basis, about 5-10 percent of the people that I've interacted with since then. I've been meeting people from different backgrounds and different cultures. That did allow for a lot of change. I've changed as a product of that, but it's been positive.

Picking up a guitar brought a lot of balance into my life.

I'm not trying to become a pop artist, and I'm not trying to make sure I stay a country artist. I'm just trying to make sure I make the best music I can, according to my way.

After graduating college, I was coming out of a routine I'd been in for several years, all the way back to high school. It was a year-round process of constantly having to work and be disciplined, and I was able to understand and connect the dots between all those characteristics - especially hard work and success.

I realized after writing songs for years how important it is. Whether it provides a living for me or not, that creative outlet is something I need.

Fortunately, the music from the first record really connected with people, and I was really proud of that.

I wish I could make multiple records, stylistically. The way that I'm gonna remedy that is to make a diverse record with a lot of different styles on one record.

I grew up really close to Alabama, about 10 minutes from the Alabama line. We'd make trips to Alabama, and I feel at home there.

I can't play guitar if I blow my arm out.

I thought that I could have a career in music. I really didn't know exactly what I wanted to do or how I would go about doing it.

I never thought of myself as a performer or songwriter or singer.

When I was really young, my babysitters had horses, and I started riding them.