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

I'm hooked on my baby's love, there ain't nothing in the jug this strong.

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

The older you are, I think you realize what you enjoy and what you don't need, what wears you out and what's important.

I don't like politics, hypocrites, folks with poodles.

You think about people like Hank Williams, who stood on that spot of wood, and Mr. Acuff, and, of course, George Jones. And just about anybody you can think of who has made country music has been on that stage. That's what makes you so nervous - to think about the historical part of the Opry and how it's played such a part in country music.

"After 17" is a song I wrote when my first daughter went to college, so that's kind of where I'm at in that part of my life. If you listen to that song and knew anything about me, you'd say, "Oh yeah, he wrote that about his daughter," but I try not to write them that they are so specific that they wouldn't apply to anybody that has a child.