I sobered up and I got to thinking, girl, you ain't much fun since I quit drinking.

Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.

I'm not a political guy. I've been a Democrat my whole life, but that didn't mean I went in and just pulled the Democratic ticket.

I agree: Americans can be very apathetic. We're not proactive. We sit and watch TV.

I've always said I can't tell sometimes that people even have an album out until I see them nominated for a Grammy. I think country gets dumped on across the board by the Grammys.

I've been a lifetime Democrat, and I'm re-registering this year as an independent. It's strictly [because] my party, that I've been affiliated with all these years, doesn't stand for anything that I stand for anymore. They've lost any sensibility that they had, and they've allowed all the kooks in, so I'm going independent.

My fans have been very loyal to me, so I want 'em into the mix every song. I don't want 'em having breaks on stuff I'm trying to push on them.