I can totally identify with the younger kids. I'll never do what Jon Spencer did to me when I was 16, though. I made a tape with my friends and I put it onstage right near his mic stand by the pedal board and he pulled it out with his foot, kicked it to the center of the stage, looked me in the eye and stomped it to pieces.

There is so much good music in the U.S. and there is just a small section that gets recognised at the Grammys.

I'm friends with Dierks Bentley. Aside from that, I don't really know anybody else in the country music field, really. I've met the Lady Antebellum people and I met Marty Stuart briefly once. He's really nice, but I don't know any of them, really.

The Midwest breeds funny, eccentric people, to varying degrees. You play shows not because you're expecting to get a record deal, but to do something fun outside of mowing lawns. Everything else is just gravy... Or mustard.

Well, you know what? The same people that get driven crazy by hip hop are the same people that probably listen to the type of music that drives me crazy. Like, Journey covers.

Through the history of rock n' roll, you see lots of bands making the mistake of putting on the tights when they get to arenas. Don't do that.

If you can't play guitar and sing in Nashville, you might as well just be a construction worker.