When the show opens, fans can text to a number we flash up on the screen, and then we do a meet-and-greet with 60 to 80 people every night. It's something I love doing, and I would say that's probably more fans than most artists bring backstage after a show.

I think the attraction to country music is the fans, the lure of the hardcore fan base.

I would like to be a heart surgeon or brain surgeon... something with that knowledge and the ability to save a life would be pretty cool. I wasn't that good in science class, though.

Probably fishing is my first passion.

People hear me talk and they know my background and they immediately stereotype me as being a real, real country guy, and that's the right stereotype. But you also want people to know you're a little broader than that, too.

You know, if Kelly Clarkson wants to do country albums because that’s what inspires her, then let her do it. Look at Kanye West or Ludacris ... they aren’t rappin’ and cussin’ like they were on their first few albums, so what does that make them? It’s all in the eye of the beholder and the listener. We all use our outlet to grow ourself.

I am just what I am, I'm just what you see. So I'll make it easy, I'll stay me.