George Strait is the king and Kenny Chesney is about as big as it gets right now, though I wouldnt mind going back out on the road with him. Maybe I could go out on the road with some singers from other genres.

No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.

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 also was a huge 'Dukes of Hazzard' fan. I used to have T-shirts that said 'Dierks of Hazzard' custom-made.

As a songwriter, you might write every day and throughout the course of a year you might get four songs that are really special.

I think if you sing a song for the first time to your mom and dad, or your friends, and they go, 'That's pretty cool'-if you're playing at the local bar somewhere, or the coffee shop, singing songs, or if you have a gig somewhere and you're singing your own songs, I think that's some version of making it. ... It's not just about having commercial success; it's about having a great life.

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.