I think I first realized I wanted to be in country music and be an artist when I was 10. And I started dragging my parents to festivals and fairs and karaoke contests and I did that for about a year before I came to Nashville for the first time. I was 11 and I had this demo CD of me singing Dixie Chicks and Leanne Rimes songs.
Being an artist is dragging your innermost feelings out giving a piece of yourself no matter in which art form in which medium.
My family was all born in Sicily and I'm Italian-American. They're the real thing. They're authentic Italians and honestly they're the most open-minded nicest people in the world and nothing can really offend them. That's the way I think true Sicilians are.