I come from a long line of Sinners like me

I don't use the big video screens that a lot of other artists use because personally, I think it's kind of a crutch. I think sometimes it's like watching television as opposed to really getting involved with what is happening onstage and the people in your section.

If I was concerned about my legacy, there’s no way I would ever sit there [and be a reality-show judge]. Once your career becomes about some¬thing other than the music, then that’s what it is. I’ll never make that mistake.

I've always made music that was representative of real life.

When I feel like every day when I get up I'm writing songs, that's the time to make a record.

There's just a lot of people that hold on to what country means to them. I love fiddle, I love steel, but I don't think it should be a rule that it has to be used in every song. I think that's not what defines or makes country music.

When you play the bars, you pay your dues. It does matter that you know those things [songs]. And the great thing for me, too, is that I draw on that stuff as influences. It's also stuff that you put in the tank that you pull from to make records.