There was a lot of momentum — a buzz started, and I got a bunch of record offers that weekend. But I decided to turn them down. I called Kidd live on the air and surprised him, saying I didn’t take the offers and I wanted to stay in Dallas to record the album. He was pretty shocked because they did everything so I could get a second chance at a record deal. But a second chance here feels like I'm going back to my ex-girlfriend who kept cheating on me. It's just like, “What's the point?” If you sign a record deal, most of the time it’s for two things: to create a fan base and to get on the radio. And I'd already gotten both. I've been fortunate enough to be on the radio every day, and there are definitely real fans connected to my story and our coming together.

We decided that instead of letting one guy in a suit predict what fans are going to buy, why not just ask the fans themselves? I'll write songs and I'll post them, and they can vote. We’ll make this the first truly democratic record ever — everybody will vote on the songs, the album cover, the videos. They could even shoot my album cover, shoot my video. I want the fans to feel important because they're the most important part of this whole thing. Right?