Country music historically has been sort of middle-aged people's music.
I think I'm going to be making country records for as long as I can see into the future. It's much more down-home and real.
To me, country music is like the blues, but it's something very hip and - I don't want to say commercial - but it's very worldly and good listening.
Country music's so about the nuclear family and living the southern lifestyle and everything.
Country music is the people's music. It just speaks about real life and about truth and it tells things how they really are.
To me, country music's about life. It's about Monday through Friday. It's the blue-collar, 40-hour week, songs about life. It used to have more of a sound, but I think the heart of that's still the same. It's still American music.
My definition of country music is really pretty simple. It's when someone sings about their life and what they know, from an authentic place.
I had been raised on country and western in Missouri. But gospel was great.
Basically, country is my kind of music - the simple melody, the simple lyrics.
Country music, to me, is what I grew up on.
Country music was the music I was brought up on. It's the music that's closest to my heart and the music that speaks to me the most, and it's always been a big influence on my own songwriting.
Country music tends to be so sentimental and homespun, it's easy to stumble into self-parody, but Haggard has brought a freshness to the themes that places him alongside Hank Williams and Willie Nelson as one of the greatest country music writers.
