People call me wild. Not really though, I'm not. I guess I've never been normal, not what you call Establishment. I'm country.

My father was a man of love. He always loved me to death. He worked hard in the fields, but my father never hit me. Never. I don't ever remember a really cross, unkind word from my father.

[Asked about his songwriting achievements, he said he was] a big fan of the Golden Age of Country Music, ... [It was] when artists had an identity bigger than any of their songs.

When I think about country music, I think about America,

Of emotions, of love, of breakup, of love and hate and death and dying, mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territory, country music does.

It's like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it's off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think.