The first song I learned on the guitar was a Kenny Chesney song called 'What I Need to Do'; it was just an easy song to play... and it was really cool to see that come full-circle a few years later and have him record a song that I was part of.
— Sam Hunt
Picking up a guitar brought a lot of balance into my life.
A lot of times, songs can blend together on the radio because there's so many great songs out there.
On my teams, as a guy who grew up hunting and fishing, I was in the minority in terms of music and lifestyle. I became good friends with people who listened to R&B and rap. But it wasn't just an issue of being around it - I was naturally drawn to it right off the bat.
I really feel like I honed in on a sound and a style of writing that best fits me.
I was a product of the relationships with my family, the environment I grew up in; all those things I kind of put on the back burner when I got into music, and my life all changed dramatically.
Fortunately, the music from the first record really connected with people, and I was really proud of that.
My dad is a football guy, not a music guy. He didn't totally understand when I decided to be a musician.
I love so many styles of music.
When I was really young, my babysitters had horses, and I started riding them.
I've always really liked the rhythm element of songs.
I get the best inspiration or the most creativity from real emotions.
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.
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.
Any chance to get out and play live for some people and get out of the studio is nice.
My golf game is lacking big time.
It's good to be proud of your heritage and your culture, but pride can be perverted.
It's just really fulfilling to celebrate with a group of folks, a team, than it is personally.
I don't let many things that are superficial keep me in a box.
The most flattering thing I hear is, 'I didn't think I liked country music before I heard your record.'
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.
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.
I'm going to put music out when I feel like it's ready.
I love what Drake does, but I don't want to be called the Drake of country.
At heart, I'm a relationship guy, but my adventurous side makes it hard. I hope I'll find a balance.
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 wanted to be a bull rider when I grew up.
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.
The things that are going to be in all my records, for as long as I'm making them, are going to go back to who I am and where I'm from and the lifestyle that I live and come from - and I don't know how I could ever get any of that close enough to pop to be considered a pop act.
I am from the country, and I grew up mostly influenced by country music.
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.
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.
I study what's happening in music. I want to sound different than everybody else.
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.
I learned from making a few of these low-budget videos early on that the best way to go about doing it is just to keep it honest and real.
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.
Traditionally, music has been a means of separating ourselves as people from another group of people.
I like doing stuff like, for instance, in the 'Leave the Night On' video, I had on a plain white T-shirt. I just wanted to do something to it to make it a little different, so I just cut a big strip out of the side, from the shirttail up to my armpit, and cut a big red strip out of another T-shirt and just sewed it in there.
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.
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.
In a small town, it's either sports or a band with your buddies. I was always athletic. But in college, I was exposed to all this new music, and I was drawn to hip-hop and R&B.
I'm not really a piano player, but I play enough to get away with it.
We try not to pull any punches and be straightforward, and I think that's what helped us connect with everybody across the board.
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.
Sometimes I'm not even aware of some of the issues going on with me in my life until I sit down and start kind of looking for inspiration, trying to find something that inspires that creativity.
Whatever's going on in my life shows up in the writing room.
I don't like the idea that in music, clothes, taste or anything, we are limited to a certain style, because we need to maintain an identity, maybe between some subculture group. Hopefully, all those walls break down, and music is just music.
Respect for women was a very important part of my upbringing.
I have a whole, whole lot of respect for the men and women that serve our country.
I kept hearing all these rules: 'You can't say that in country music.' 'You can't use that kind of beat.' I became so frustrated. It may have slingshotted me, in a rebellious way, toward doing something different.
