“I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. My mom, just like her mom did for her and her five siblings, had me and my brother learn piano when I was four and my brother was five. My parents told us when we turned 10 we could choose a different instrument if we wanted to, so I chose guitar, I don’t know… the guitar always kind of spoke to me… I wanted to be a rock ’n’ roller!

I was a shy kid. I wrote songs in my room that I sang to myself. In fifth grade I had this notion to form a band with s...