When you get married and have children, and you start having hits and success and your business starts growing, there's less and less time for songwriting.

'Firecracker' was such a fun song to write and to perform.

There were only 75 people in my graduating class at the school I attended in Hannah, S.C. It was a small school and that translated into not a lot of opportunities when it came to music. We had academic and sports programs but we never had a consistent music program. We would have a band one year, and a chorus one year, but nothing ever lasted.

I grew up like a lot of country boys and girls do - amongst the pine trees, dirt roads, farms, mules and people who were real.

The coolest gift I've ever gotten from a fan was from the Franklin Mint. It was a knife, and it had a picture of General Wade Hampton, who my oldest son is named after. It's a collector's item and came with a case and a stand and everything.

I'm not much of a water skier, my legs are too skinny for that, so I just try to tube and have fun, just ride.

I came from a rural background, and I didn't come in contact with a lot of wealthy people.