To me, songwriting is the backbone of Nashville. Looks can go, fads can go, but a good song lasts forever.

When I was in high school, I don't know that I really had big dreams.

I could have done a hundred songs, really. It was hard to narrow them down, because I tried to pick songs for the most part that actually did have some effect on me or influenced me in the past.

Hee Haw was probably my biggest exposure to live music at a young age, because there wasn't any live music around my town and no one in my family played instruments.

The music business doesn't take up that much of my time. I probably should put a little more energy into it.

To me, songwriting is the backbone of Nashville. Looks can go, fads can go, but a good song lasts forever.

I've been a lot of places, and my wife, Denise, she likes a lot of the fancy restaurants. I'm more of a basic eater. I still go into Cracker Barrel. Those are the kind of people who like the kind of music I'm making.