Believe me, I love commerce as much as the rest of the readers of 'Businessweek.' But in art, you have to be true to yourself and your musical vision. People have known me well for a long time, so if I was chasing a trend and doing something that wasn't authentic to who I am, they would know it in just a few seconds.

I don't think I'm going to be priest material.

Country music has always been about as close to R&B as you can possibly get. We're storytellers.

I am a country boy and proud of it.

I just had to find all my friends that used to be in the business. As I say, the music business didn't die, it just moved to Nashville.

Traveling did a great deal to me. I found that when I travel and just sit in the corner and watch, a million ideas come to me.

I always like to challenge myself. I never want to be put into a box.