Chris Carmack

The music is something I've always done and always loved but always really kept for myself. Something I do for me.

I've been writing songs on little pieces of paper since I was a little kid, and it's just always been something I've done.

Music kept me sane between acting jobs.

What I've run into more than anything is people who have a belief that they know who you are. Type-casting happens because people actually write you off. 'You are in this box. That's all you are; that's everything you are.' It's a very de-humanizing experience.

I have gotten better at saying to myself, 'Relax and just take this moment in. Appreciate it for what it is.'

I love how Hollywood still wants to perpetuate the myth that beaches in Southern California are warm at night.

I lived in a little shack in Santa Monica, and I was working on 'The O.C.' and when it started airing, I took my laundry down to the laundromat like I always had, and so many people along the two blocks I walked and in the laundromat stopped me and asked me for photographs.

I'm somebody who values anonymity - not just in terms of not wanting people to recognize me or wanting my privacy, but I value anonymity in conversation.

I thought, when I came to Nashville, I was going to hook up with some of the top country writers in town and write some country tunes.

I'm a fan of Otis Redding. I've sat around trying to copy some of his phrasing and learn from him, but it kinda falls short.

I describe my years in Los Angeles as 12 years of culture shock.

I grew up in Maryland on the East Coast - you know, close to D.C. but sort of in the suburban, rural area - and Nashville felt very, very homey to me.

CNT was a good fit for 'Nashville,' and 'Nashville' was a great fit for CNT, and so timing was right. You know, they're investing more in scripted television - the show brought a lot of more eyeballs to CNT, eyeballs that are interested in country music - so, I mean, it couldn't have been a better fit.

Let's be honest - it's hard for me to get more sexy, but I'm giving it a go.

Performing live is easy in front of an audience.

In terms of exploring an identity in the country music world, what I realized very quickly was that there are people who have been performing country music since they were kids. It's very much a part of who they are; very much that jazz and blues are a part of who I am, because I grew up listening to and playing that kind of music.

I grew up in a neighborhood that was surrounded by farms. There was a horse farm behind me and dairy farms on either side.

When I came to Nashville, I was sort of experimenting with a new identity, experimenting with the country world and country writers. I realized I needed to take a step back from that, to be true to some of the music I've been doing over the years and to put that into the world before I move forward and redefine myself again.

There are a lot of opportunities to do a lot of great, wonderful things, and if you say yes to them all, you will not sleep or breathe or eat.

I grew up playing the saxophone. I joined the jazz band in high school, but somewhere along the way I realized the guys who strummed acoustic guitars at parties were the ones who got the attention. So I asked a friend to show me a few chords, and when I moved to L.A. I spent a lot of time practicing my guitar.

I think the 'Jaws' shark and the 'Shark Night' shark would fall in love and make sweet babies.

I am actively campaigning for 'chest hair' to become an Olympic sport.

I think a movie is a great date idea for younger couples. It takes the pressure off, since something else is entertaining you. It's also good for couples in a very comfortable relationship.

I'm honestly kind of scared of horror films. My girlfriend always tries to expose them to me. Being in a scary movie and seeing all the fake blood and stuff definitely takes away from the magic and kind of humanizes scary movies to me now, though.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I read in an interview with Lil Wayne that he recorded a mixtape of something like 50 straight minutes of him rapping all of his material because he felt like he could never move on to the next phase of his musical exploration if he didn't get it down on tape.