I never aspired to be up front. When I was a kid, I didn't ever look in the mirror with a hairbrush going, "Hey, I'm Elvis!"

When you ask a songwriter, "What's your favorite song?" he goes, "The next one."

I formally proposed. I'm a good Southern gentleman.

I've always felt like every note of a song is of equal value.

Music is like having a conversation. All musicians inspire each other, and they're all geared to play something that matters.

It would be fun to go back and see where all my songs stopped, because I think I'd have every number in the top 100. It never ceases to amaze me. It still hurts when one doesn't work, because you put your heart and soul into it.

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.