Leon Bridges

“I believe that gospel is more than just a sound, it's a way of life. I don't really have any shame to talk about spirituality in my music. A lot of your favorite soul songs started out in gospel.”

“I always wanted the world to hear my music, but I didn't know how I was gonna go about it.”

“When I first got into the music scene, I was inspired by different songwriters. I like to dress from the '50s and '60s. I like to paint a picture of that era through my music and clothes. I am inspired by a whole a lot of things, from doo-wop to gospel and soul music.”

“My music is more than me writing a flashy soul song. They're heartfelt songs about my family and true stories. I have also songs that aren't personal, but just painting a picture. I don't like being put under labels, but my music is going to continue to stay classic and timeless forever.”

“One time, when I was about eight, these guys started throwing water balloons at me. That really did ruin my summer.”

“My father would play Stevie Wonder in the car, but that never sunk in.”

“I'm very content to have great management and a great label. But for me, success started when my managers came to me and told me, 'Go ahead and quit your job.' I told them, 'As long as I don't have to wash dishes anymore, I'm good.'”

“I don't like a lot of attention. That's kind of who I am at heart. So I see everything, the people circulating around me and a lot of people know me - it kind of feels like a heavy weight sometimes.”

“I want people to see an honesty within me. I'm not trying to be the next Sam Cooke or Otis Redding.”

“I write based on how I feel.”

“My mother and my great-aunt told me stories, like how when my grandfather first met my grandmother at a party, he noticed her long legs and was like, 'Woo woo!' I like to incorporate those stories into my music. They just seem to fit.”

“I was washing dishes at Del Frisco's Grille and busing tables at a Tex-Mex place and writing songs the whole time. I did a lot of my writing at those jobs, thinking up melodies in my head.”

“Fame and all that type of stuff is inevitable, but I'm very content having a good band with no negativity, and everyone is on the same page.”

“There are a lot of bands who would get really big in Fort Worth and play shows on a Friday night that everybody would come out to. But I've never been really big in my hometown. My shows would have 10 or 15 people at them.”