Leon Bridges

I like to wear short-sleeved collared shirts and high-waist trousers with shiny shoes. And at night, when I'm playing, I'll often wear suits. But it started with my uncle's vintage clothes.

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.

It's kind of weird - I get shy when I'm around new people, still, even when I'm onstage. I come from not really wanting to be in lights or known or in front of people.

I'm always writing lyrics. I have so many lyrics on so many stray pieces of paper. Everywhere.

I've always been very determined, ever since I was a little girl, to make my way.

So I write melodies - thirty, forty, fifty - then I cast them off until I have just two or three. If only one is needed, I go see the director and ask him to decide.