Today they forget you in five years. They give an artist nowadays four or five years and that's it. Some of them don't have that. They get a couple of releases. If you don't sell two million copies, you're gone, you're out of here.

There are questions I'm still not wise enough to answer, just wise enough to no longer ask.

Be real about what you do. Stay true to the voice inside you. Don't let the 'business' change what it is you love because the people, the fans, respond to what is heartfelt. They can always tell when a singer is faking it.

I just thank God I'm still here and the main thing is to try to get closer and closer to Him as much as I can so that I can treat my friends and my family the way they should be treated.

There's nothing prettier in the world than a melody. I can get lost in a song with a melody.

Country music to me is heartfelt music that speaks to the common man. It is about real life stories with rather simple melodies that the average person can follow. Country music should speak directly and simply about the highs and lows of life. Something that anyone can relate to.

After the first couple of years recording I did a lot of praying. I said, 'Lord, please give me a hit.' I want one so bad.