You know, you want everything you do, obviously, to be a success critically and commercially. But what you find out as you go along is that everything won't.

And I think that's a singer's job. You know, to really interpret a lyric. There's an art to it, and I think some people are really great at it, like Tammy Wynette and George Jones and Tony Bennett.

And I hate to see artists who are real safe. I love to see artists swing for the fences sometimes.

And it took me about 11 years to get a record deal, and I just had to work around and come to terms with the fact that what I was doing was going to be different, and I just had to wait until somebody was ready to jump on the bandwagon.

Nominations come and go. It is not going to happen to you every year, and I am very well aware of that

There's no great guitarist that doesn't sit down and listen to Chet Atkins and Eddie Van Halen, and all these other great players.

Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter. When you come close to sellin' out reconsider. Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.