I think the great country songs mixed with some of that bluegrass instrumentation - and surrounding all that with a little bit of a rock vibe and energy - is the kind of music I make.

I'm a huge fan of Billy Idol. I spiked my hair every day like him in 7th and 8th grade.

I always say the best applause you can get is when you walk from backstage up to your microphone at a concert. It's also nice to walk up to the mike at an awards show, and that applause is great, too, but the best is when your fans are cheering for you.

But as far as being an American and loving this country and getting a chance to travel across it every day and meeting people on the road and folks in the military, I love this country on so many different levels.

I'm always looking for things that make me kind of uncomfortable.

When you go to the Opry for a show or hear it on the radio, you get the whole circle of country music.

When I was 13, I was just figuring out how to play 'Eruption,' poorly, by Eddie Van Halen.