Fool you once, you are forgiven. Fool you twice, you're just a fool.

You know, I didn't have enough money to quit my day job... the myth of the major label deal. Nowadays, you have a tour bus and a stylist and all this stuff. But back then, no way.

I think topical songwriting is a real gift, and it's hard not to be pedantic and show up with the sledgehammer message.

Life is never a straight line - it's peaks and valleys. Why would you want to be the same person every day of your life?

I grew up listening to everything, and when I got signed to a record deal out of Nashville, that was my introduction to what was happening in country music.

I've crossed lines of word and wire and both have cut me deep. I've been frozen out and I've been on fire, and the tears are mine to weep.

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".