Jacob Whitesides

“I wrote 'Ohio,' and it was really awesome to be able to share that with my fans because a lot of them can relate to not having a parent in their life. It's really one of my favourite songs to sing live.”

“I'm still finding myself as an artist. I'm still experimenting a little bit.”

“My fans are definitely my shareholders, and I'm extremely thankful for them.”

“I am here talking to 'Rolling Stone' because of an iPhone. Music has transformed because of Apple.”

“My mum is the funniest and sweetest person I know; my sister's like my best friend, so it's great having them around.”

“I never really wanted to be a singer, because I was a super-shy kid. Singing made me feel awkward, and I was really insecure.”

“I started homeschooling when I was 13. I wasn't really doing the social media thing yet; I didn't have any fans, but I knew that public school wasn't the place for me. It was draining my creativity, and so both my parents supported me in being homeschooled, and they really gave me a chance to focus on getting good at guitar.”

“I will write a verse or a story and bring it into a songwriting session, because that's what's big in Nashville - the collaborative part of songwriting.”

“I feel like that's so important, to enjoy my own music. Because if I'm not passionate about my music, then it's going to show to the fans.”

“Don't hide things from the fans, because they will find them, and they will not be your fan anymore. I've seen that happen with many artists.”

“I started playing guitar when I was 14 and eventually gained the confidence to start singing a little bit.”

“I'm just thankful that even at a young age, I got to experience something like 'X Factor,' and I got to meet enough people just to know that I needed to be patient until the right deal came around.”

“I think a lot of people think it's easy to just post stuff. They think it's the easy way to fame nowadays, but it's been hard. You have to film the video, which takes forever because I'm super picky about all my takes and stuff. Then you have to edit it and upload it, and doing that three times a week is very, very difficult.”

“You put Drake on anything, and it's money.”

“Although the views have gone up and the comments have gone up, I never drop a project and disappear.”

“I actually like spending time alone - it doesn't bother me at all.”

“When all these huge offers start coming in, people see dollar signs. People see fame. I just knew that it was a lie. Unless you really hit it off in radio right away - a lot of my friends didn't, and they were getting put in so many horrible positions where they were getting stuck. They weren't even allowed to release music.”