Country music is the song that speaks to the American condition. It's middle America. Eight out of 10 people. Maybe it's not the No. 1 choice, but they listen to country.
I started at such a young age learning every style of music, the country and the bluegrass and the western swing and the rock - everything.
And as far as guitars go, I loved Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West's stuff.
And I got to know Red Foley well. And I got to know Lefty really well, he was a great guy.
I didn't really get crazy about Bob Wills until 1940.
I was always sort of mystified and excited about the world of country music. Something about it struck me as enchanted.
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are simply the best band that ever was.
Songs like the Buck Owens tune, for example, are very simple and straightforward, and recording it really gave me a chance to get into and get a sense of Buck's personality, a feel for that whole Bakersfield sound.
I never get tired of exploring Americana or country music, and I always have a little bit of a crooner in me that never seems to go away.
I'm from the Bob Wills and the Little Richard school of music. Bob Wills did what the hell he thought, Little Richard did what he thought, and those were my big influences.
Country music historically has been sort of middle-aged people's music.
I am a Patsy Cline fan.
I have such a deep love for traditional country music.
I listen to a lot of really old western and country music. There's a lot of cool stuff in there... all the heartbreak of the country darkness.
I love old-time music, I love country music and I love the American music that we have to offer the world. And any part of that is fine with me, as long as it's pure.
I don't like modern country music. It's not what I'm into, is all. I'm old-school.
When I was nine, I was singing western swing: Roy Rogers and Patsy Cline. It got me noticed because no one my age was doing it, but it made me feel inferior because none of my friends could relate to it.
I made a Christmas album a couple of years ago and just put it out on my Web site. It kind of smacked of this flavor. All of the reviews said it was Western swing even when it was Christmas standards.
Lee Ann Womack is from near where I grew up in East Texas, so I've always looked up to her. I sang a lot of Dolly Parton as a kid and a lot of traditional western swing, like Patsy Cline and Roy Rogers.
Even by the time I was four or five, I had Gene Autry records.
When you're down in Texas, Bob Wills is still the king.
Where I grew up, Bob Wills and his western swing was very popular. And western swing is not that far from jazz and blues.
I got to where I couldn't listen to country radio. Country music is supposed to have steel and fiddle. When I hear country music, it should be country.
The history of country music is as important as any other art form.
Chet Atkins, I love his singer style and the country thing that he did. He really had a huge impact in my life, just his style - western swing and the country thing he did - it really changed my life.
