Music's cyclical. There's always that next generation that always comes along.

I've always made music that was representative of real life.

Music is universal; it speaks to people's souls on the deepest level.

You have to have a canon so the next generation can come along and explode it.

Maybe it's oldest-child syndrome, but I have always been competitive, even as a kid with sports. It spills into my career.

I went to my dad when I was 17 and said, 'I want to be a country music star.' Which every dad loves to hear. And he said, 'I want you to go to college.' So we had a discussion. And I'm pretty stubborn. I'm a lot like him. And he said, 'If you go to college and graduate, I'll pay your first six months of rent in Nashville.' So he bribed me.