And from my place, and from the time that I went through my divorce, I also had my father pass away in the middle of all that. And it kind of made everything else just kind of like the back burner, you know.

Whether it is successful or not is not the exercise for me. It is not up to me. It is out of my hands now. I am not going to in two years have hindsight and say I made a big mistake.

I've always been more drawn to being normal than being famous.

I made records in the past that are as traditional as any other country records that have been made, but at the same time the records have a contemporary slant on it too.

It is not fun singing about losing somebody like that, but at the same time it was easy to write because the memories were so real and vivid and so much a part of who I am.

My mom said, "What I want is a happy kid, not a rich kid. That's what I root for." She saw how much joy I got from playing music, and those years were leaner than lean!

Yes, the companionship is amazing. You know, you can get that physical attraction that happens is great, but then there's an awful lot of time and the rest of the day that you have to fill.