I'm a songwriter, and people will tell you the greatest stories about their lives, whether you want to hear it or not.

I grew up with the Grand Ole Opry, Dottie West, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens... not realizing it was influencing me as much as it was.

No one can deny, this love I have inside, and I'll give it all to you, my endless love.

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.

When will we ever learn, there's nowhere else we can turn.

People have allowed me into their homes, through my words and my music.

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