Troy Cartwright is Berklee trained but Red Dirt raised, and while the Dallas native says he listened close to his college professors, he also never forgot where he came from. When songwriting today, it's still usually just him and an acoustic guitar, like it's always been. “I was actually very, very bad at all the musical theory classes in college," the "Hung Up on You" singer tells Taste of Country. "I think I got a ‘D’ in Harmony 3, which is the one where you learn all the modes.” Charlie Puth was at Berklee College of Music at the same time as Cartwright; so, too, was Ingrid Andress, although the two record labelmates never crossed paths. John Mayer, meanwhile, came back to Berklee to speak to the student body during Cartwright's first semester.