I don't spend a lot of time feeling sorry for myself, trying to compare how many records I've sold or how much money I've made.

The stupidest thing that a writer can do is write a memoir I think, unless it's right before you die -- maybe.

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

I think the criticism that I take to heart is from other writers that I respect.

I don't care what's happening in the mainstream of country music. I haven't in a long time.

I'm used to writing stories with a beginning a middle and an end in four minutes.

I don't think I'm a political songwriter as much as I am just a political person. I think it's in my fabric.