Thank God, Jake Owen has really good friends -- friends so good that when he plays them a tune to get some honest feedback, they will occasionally tell him, "This song sucks."

I mean, most of the time, I'm sure Owen's friends probably love his music. But it's refreshing to hear that even as his fame gets bigger and bigger, his buddies still tell him like it is.

Owen told the Huffington Post that when he's trying out a new tune, he likes to first put himself in the listener's shoes.

"When I sit back and listen to a song, I picture myself with my friends the same way my fans out there are doing," he said. "Like when I go out on my boat with my friends, I'll put the music on, turn it up loud and ask everybody what they think.

"And I can usually tell pretty quickly if they're enjoying the song, you know? But a lot of the time, my friends are honest, and they're like, 'God, this is so great, you got to get this out there,' or they're like, 'This song sucks.' And that's why you have to have good friends that will be honest because music is art, and art is subjective. Some music doesn't appeal to people's ears."

As for other artist's music, Owen knows which songs don't suck. And he admits he chooses music depending on where he is and what he's up to.

When he's working out, it's rock or hip hop.

When he's drinking beer, it's all Merle Haggard or Hank Williams Jr.

When he's out on his boat, it's Jack Johnson and Jimmy Buffett.

And when he's fishing, Owen is all about the country music.

"I've always said that the fish bite better when I'm listening to Conway Twitty or something," he said.