I had just lost my dad and I remembered all the songs we used to go and hear at concerts, and the records around the house and sometimes we'd play together.

I can sit and analyze everything and beat myself up and say you don't quite sing as good as you used to, you're writing better songs maybe than you used to, but to me it's just the journey.

It really does take a lot of time to make records, to be in the studio and do all that stuff.

It is not that I don't like contemporary country music because I do. I love it. I have recorded a lot and have had great success recording records that have not been very traditional country records.

It blew my mind that nobody would come and see those kids play. One of the greatest attractions for me was the purity of the game they played. ... Guys who were just playing ball and having a good time before they go on to get jobs like the rest of us.

I made records in the past that are as traditional as any other country records that have been made, but at the same time the records have a contemporary slant on it too.