For me there are two types of country: There's the shoot-yourself-in-the-head country, and then there's really good country music.
Everyone wants to be an arena act, and it's making country music evolve. People are cutting things more for that arena environment. But who's to say that that is a sign of any more of a successful career than what James Taylor has been able to do, when he still comes and plays the Ryman every two years?
A lot of my fans, and a lot of country music fans, they still wear boots.
The country crowd just has fun.
I'm from Tennessee. My mom lives in Nashville. I'm born and bred country. That's all I listen to.
I was like, 'I'm never gonna do country, I'm never gonna give in, you'll never see me wear a cowboy hat.'
It means so much being a part of country music and the Opry.
Obviously, I love country music, so I wanna be able to live in the country music genre and then play to country music fans.
I would have to say I've been on the 'Opry' at least 30-35-40 times a year for... 51-52 years.
When I first came to Nashville, people hardly gave country music any respect. We lived in old cars and dirty hotels, and we ate when we could.
Nashville may be famed for its country music, but this may well be the capital of rock and roll music in the United States of America.
When I got to Nashville, people started asking me about how I got into country music. I'd tell them I came from a place where people wore cowboy hats for a real reason.
In the middle of Mississippi, so many kinds of music came, but it was Nashville and country music that pulled my heart.
Well, you know, people don't know me as a country artist and I am new to the genre. But that's how I grew up singing.
I always know I'm a country singer, and regardless of where I've fallen into different places with my music, I know that, really, I'm a country singer.
That's part of it: You can't be a country singer-songwriter if you've never had an official heartbreak.
I really truly believe I found my identity with country music.
I don't think I've changed anything in the country format whatsoever. But I'm not worried about it. I've found my place in it.
I love the show 'Nashville,' I mean, that's a show that's pretty incredible.
I chose to be this guy. It's who I want to be, and it's always been me - just keepin' it country.
Back in the early '90s, I started going to Nashville to do a lot of co-writes. One of the first people I met there was Keith Follese. Keith and his wife Adrienne are both songwriters, and we wrote some songs together.
'Nashville' is a show that I personally truly loved, and to not have it back was a little bit of a heartbreak for me.
Country's hip; it's cool music.
It's awesome to have friends among the country music community that you know are looking out for you and that you are excited to get to see on the road.
Some of the country stuff in the past has been so polished - if you were a guy with a nice pair of jeans, a big belt buckle and nice hat, you were country.
