My favorite books from childhood were the inserts from my Alan Jackson CDs and cassette tapes. As a kid, I’d never been in love or water-skied down the Chattahoochee, but his songs birthed my Rain Man-like obsession with country music.
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Every song I heard became a movie in my mind. “Midnight in Montgomery” had me right there in the graveyard witnessing the most believable ghost story ever told … and “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow” was his rags-to-riches reality that empowered me to chase the same dream. Alan was from Georgia, like me, and his lyrics sounded like conversation flowing from my daddy’s mouth. Simple. Believable. His words were few, but good. I took note.
Country radio lost me in the Y2K era until I heard the Sinners Like Me album by this new cat, Eric Church. I loved him for the same reasons I loved Alan Jackson, only Eric pushed the envelope a little more (something that resonated deeply with an unfiltered, unapologetic Southerner like me). There was Jesus and Jack Daniels all on the same record, which struck a chord with my Saturday night and Sunday morning lifestyle. His songwriting gave me a license to embrace my individuality and to inject it more into my music and artistry.
When I sit down to write a song, it has to be charismatic and conversational … like a sexy pickup line. My only rule: If I don’t feel cool when I say it, I don’t sing it. I need the opening line to be interesting enough that you want to hear the rest. As an entertainer, I want the lyrics to be memorable and retainable so that a crowd is able to sing that chorus back to me the second or third time around.
I can’t write you a song that doesn’t say “something,” and I feel like, because of that, I’ve had to wait my turn through a time when a lot of No. 1 songs weren’t saying much of anything. I also fought and won the battle with a major label and a producer in putting steel guitar on my records. For years, I wanted to include notes of that ’90s country nostalgia in my music. As a songwriter, I knew the trend would eventually come back around and I aim to stay ahead of the curve.
I fought for the chorus that you hear in “Cryin’ All the Way to the Bank.” And I fought for the stripped-down version of “Ugly Houses.” If I can’t sell you on a song with just my guitar and a vocal, then I need to go back to the drawing board. It’s gratifying each night I get to hear those songs being sung back to me.
On my new record, The Other Damn Half, you’re going to get a taste of Hannah the potty mouth and Hannah the prayer warrior. My hope is that you’ll see a little bit of yourself in both. I hope that you’ll hear some of the influences of my heroes, along with a style that is undeniably me.
