If I go back to when I was 18 years old, here was this group writing songs and playing rock 'n' roll songs like nobody else. It was amazing.

The thing about Beatles music is that everybody knows it. If you play Beatles music, the audience is already there, and they're waiting to be entertained by you. All of a sudden, they're transformed to another place.

There was so much excitement for music at the time, and much of it had to do with the Beatles. The Beatles inspired probably more bands than we will ever know, and they certainly inspired me.

I was a senior in high school at the time. Everybody was playing the Beatles; everybody liked the music.

Sometimes we disagree when writing songs. We'll get mad at each, but eventually we'll put everything together and it all comes out fine. We won't stay mad at each other for long.

I've probably been writing songs in Nashville longer than anybody. My first co-writer was Andrew Jackson,