It's all for a reason and all happened the way it was supposed to happen.

I believe everything falls into place as it's supposed to.

In the late '70s, I was falling into the middle lane. I was way too country to be rock, and way too rock to be a country act.

When I first came out, country wouldn't touch me because I was way too rock, and rock wouldn't touch me because I was definitely country.

I wood-shedded for a year to play Grandma's simple stuff. It's not that simple, and I don't use picks the way she does. But I played them as authentically as I could, with the flat-picking.

My grandma passed in '78, and that's the year I started recording. It's also the year that my dad retired from his career. So it's funny how torches get passed on, and you feel a responsibility to be connected to the music that they did and try to carry it on in your own way.