Whether lyrically or musically, it reaches in there and grabs your soul. That's the stuff I gravitate toward.

You can't write about stuff you don't know about. You have to live it. You have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Live life to be a good songwriter.

No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.

Only in country music can you compare an old pickup truck and an old guitar to your wife and turn it into a love song... Thank God for country music.

I always say the best applause you can get is when you walk from backstage up to your microphone at a concert. It's also nice to walk up to the mike at an awards show, and that applause is great, too, but the best is when your fans are cheering for you.

I've had some shows where I really plan out what I'm going to say. Then I've had other shows where I'm like, 'Take a sip of the Ole Smoky Moonshine and just let it be natural and cross your fingers that you say the right things.'