I'll always have songs with a farm connotation on my albums. It's in the fabric of my music, and I plan to keep it that way.

Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.

I think the defining moment in my career is the day that I moved to Nashville - September 1, 2001. That's the biggest step to getting here is making that move. Anything that happens, the wonderful opportunities that happen to you, can't happen until you make that move.

I think certainly after every show I headline, I will be available to the fans. When I'm headlining a show, I don't walk off stage. I'll walk to the front of the stage and sign hats and shirts and tickets for 15 to 30 minutes, until everyone has everything signed.

My focus is trying to make great music and putting on great shows, and whatever happens beyond that is a bonus to me.

To have your first No. 1 as an artist was everything I could have ever dreamed for. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed, and hopefully we'll have many more, but there's certainly nothing like the first one.

I'll always have songs with a farm connotation on my albums. It's in the fabric of my music, and I plan to keep it that way.