In the late 80s, artists could be signed to labels and be nurtured. It wasn't, "We're going to give you one shot, and if you don't measure up, you're gone".

Emmy Lou Harris introduced me to the work of the Vietnam Veterans of America foundation and the Campaign for a Land Mine Free World.

My sisters and I were fortunate to travel through Asia and Europe at very young ages. We confronted extraordinary beauty in Athens and unspeakable poverty in India.

As far as politically how country music goes, it's true that it's regarded from a distance as a genre of music that at different times, the more right elements of the political spectrum have claimed for their own.

Think I'll flip a coin, I'm a winner either way Mmmmmm, I feel lucky today

It's a pretty frantic world that we live in

So I think that if I do feel more freedom right now in my career, it's not so much because I have less at stake but more a sense that I've learned more.