People think I'm as shallow and superficial as I look, and it's a surprise when they find out, sure enough, I am.

Leave something good in every day.

I'm always amazed by the people who work on stage who sing night after night, day after day, week in week out.

I think your values are always influenced by your family and your community.

I love thinking, I love coming up with great ideas. I just get excited. Sometimes if I get a big idea, I'm just like a kid, like I've found a new toy.

If there's something bothering me in the business end of things with people I work with, I just say it right out.

In the early days, Porter Wagoner would not exactly scold me, but he's say, 'You're writing too many damn verses. You're makin' these songs too damn long.' And I'd say, 'Yeah, but I'm tellin' a story. I have a story to tell.' And he'd say, 'Well, you're not going to get it on the radio.' If I start writing a song, I'm writing it for a reason. People would say that I had to have two verses, and a chorus, and a bridge. I tried to learn that formula.