Sam Hunt
People throw things at me sometimes, at big festivals.
I've always wanted to do my best to make sure it's clear that I want to keep the focus on my music.
I could probably recite just about every song that was on country radio between 1990 and 2000.
I worked at a hospital parking cars and getting folks in and out of the hospital as they would come in for their appointments.
I've always craved winning. It's just easier in sports because there's a scoreboard.
I had a couple CDs. But I never had that first concert experience, that first record thing.
I've tried to work really hard on never phoning in the lyrics.
I'm not in control of my fate, and that's a good thing.
It wasn't in the cards to work out in football.
I still get excited about it. I miss playing ball.
I can't play guitar if I blow my arm out.
I am kind of the front man for a team of people behind the scenes who are working just as hard as me and are putting in just as much time to make this all happen. I'm not trying to be humble. I just want everyone to get credit where credit is due.
There wasn't really a song or artist that made me want to be a singer, I think I was always a fan of country music.
I never thought of myself as a performer or songwriter or singer.
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.
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 don't think I'm conscious of most of the things I've drawn from football, because they're so ingrained in me now... understanding that the discipline and the routine and the regimentation to be successful.
I was able to really see that connection as a football player where success requires a lot of hard work and effort, physically and mentally.
'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.
I don't really know that I'm aware of a lot of the inspiration and influence that I'm under, because I didn't have an extensive musically educational upbringing.
It's good to be proud of your heritage and your culture, but pride can be perverted.
I study what's happening in music. I want to sound different than everybody else.
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.
Picking up a guitar brought a lot of balance into my life.
By no means do I want to try to leave country music. That's absolutely where I want to stay.
People sniff out when you try to fake something or be something you are not.
I like disagreement because it forces both sides to question their own opinions and why they feel that way.
I do think I'm country, but your definition of that word might be different from my definition. In my opinion, country music, the sound of country, has always evolved. But the one thing that has not changed is the story element. And I think country songs are truthful songs about life written by country people.
I don't know where my fashion sense comes from, exactly. I've always been interested in, not necessarily being unique, but not necessarily sticking to the preexisting paradigm - whether it be clothes or music or whatever.
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'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.
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.
Some people don't like long bus rides, but I love them. There's sort of a sense of solitude.
I think of a song in terms of lyrics and stories, and that's what keeps it country for me.
A lot of the lessons that are taught in football will promote success in anything you get into after football; for me, it just happens to be music. Being disciplined. Good character. Trying to do the right thing, and working hard.
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 was a big music fan, but I never bought a bunch of records or was very educated, I guess, on who was who or what was what.
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.
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.
It wasn't until I was 18, when I was graduating high school, that I went and bought a guitar on a whim.
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.
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.
When somebody's never heard you, that's the way to do it: Just give them music for free and let them decide for themselves if they like it or not.
Maybe one day music will just be music, and there won't be these categories; it'll just be different shades of music.
The money factor had been kind of my excuse as to why I hadn't put out any music. So I just found the cheapest way to make music and get it to people, and that was via the Internet.
I like to come up with lots of different sounds. So the final version of a song might have been 10 completely different songs before we finally got it right.
You want to stand out and be unique and do something different. I always try to zig when they zag - I guess it's a football term, but it applies to a lot of different areas of life.
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.
When I graduated high school, I bought a guitar and, at first, didn't really think I'd get into the songwriting thing as much as I did. But after learning a few songs of other people's to play on the guitar, I got bored with that and just started writing songs on my own, and that's kinda how it came about.