People pay attention to lyrics, and the race matter was delicate.

What we don't need in country music is divisiveness, public criticism of each other, and some arbitrary judgement of what belongs and what doesn't.

It isn't reasonable to expect that everyone in the world is a country music fan. Not yet, anyway.

I always wanted to grow up fast. I longed for more than the Mississippi Delta could give.

My brothers and sisters all sang, too, and they all have good voices.

The tastes of country music fans are not limited to the narrow range defined by consultants and programmers and record company moguls.

There only have been two people on this earth that I was nervous around: Chet Atkins and Mickey Mantle. It's because of the respect I have for them.