I just like people. I'll hold a conversation at a gas station. It's not about the fame and the fortune, I just like people.

Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it.

The best compliment that has ever been given to me was, I was at the airport one day and a guy came in and said, 'Lionel, my wife loves you, the kids love you, my mother-in-law loves you, the family loves you.

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.

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.

The music business was not safe, but it was FUN. It was like falling in love with a woman you know is bad for you, but you love every minute with her, anyway.

Country is bringing in a little rock element... a little '80s element. Melody is king now. But its just in the music, its not so much in the songwriting, which is still very basic to the storytelling aspect of it.