Actually, in its purest form, Islam is incredibly tolerant. That makes what's going on in the world really bizarre.

Every leap forward that I make is by reaching back and firmly getting a footing in the past, and pushing forward as hard as I can.

I feel like I owe my audience something. They feed my kids. And I really like my job, a lot.

I ain't ever satisfied.

I'm one of the few people that I know that sings better than they did 20 years ago.

What songwriting does better than almost anything is empathy - it's incredibly empathetic. The reason people sat around in bars when they were bummed out and listened to country songs is because it made them feel better in the long run.

I wish I was as sure about things as Bill Monroe was sure about things.