..And now you've lost the only thing that ever made you feel alive

Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.

It took a while for her to figure out she could run but when she did she was long gone, Long gone..

You go through life experiences. Each record captures a different turning point in my life.

I think there's just so many people in the world that don't feel understood, and when you hear a song and you go, 'Oh, that song understands me,' that's an amazing feeling. I get it when I listen to the radio... That's a beautiful part of music.

I think it took me a while to convince Nashville that what I do is genuine and my heart's in the right place, and I love country music.

A song like 'Once in a Lifetime' is inspired by my marriage - it's a good, life-changing happening in my life. I think when you find your once-in-a-lifetime love, that's what everybody's looking for.

My father's record collection was all country. That's how I was exposed to it.

Being with my family is very important to me, and touring is very important to me, too, because it's who I am. It's what I do.

I love the beginnings of artists when all they've got is raw talent and nothing else.

I always wish I'd had more mentors, better mentors, wiser mentors, people who were proper professional working musicians to guide me as I was coming up.

I think the industry is oblivious to the fact that most people listen to all kinds of stuff. I personally don't know of anyone who listens to only one genre of music. It's vanity because no one does.

At the end of the day, the Grammys are about recognizing genres that are making an impact.

It's not the case of turning in a bunch of songs and recording the next month. I think you're looking for songs all year long and you're writing all year long.

Once we get into the groove, we're kind of like long-distance runners - that adrenalin kicks in for me and I just keep running - and I don't stop!

I think everybody has different priorities in their life. People live their lives differently. People become famous through all sorts of different reasons... some of it through art and some of it through just wanting to be famous. And I think how that all starts tends to reflect how you live your life daily.

I've never wanted to name an album from a song title if I could avoid it because I like it to be a body of work.

I'm a little more comfortable in that role. I love being in the studio.

The only place that I wanna be is where you are, cause any more than a heartbeat away is just too far.

Red carpets are pretty unpredictable. You can go from one person asking you what you're wearing to the next person asking you about the situation in Haiti. It's the extreme juxtaposition, and some of the questions can throw me!

The world is getting so reality-driven these days. It seems to be accelerating exponentially. But it's a dangerous game for a lot of people.

The records in the house I really remember were, well, Glen Campbell's 'Wichita Lineman' and 'Galveston.' Even as a kid, I knew these songs were glorious. My dad also had records by Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Waylon Jennings, and then there was also the Eagles and Don Henley. Anything Texas, which includes Don Henley, was big.

It's something I've always loved doing. I'm not one of the artists who comes in and just does my bit. I'm there every second of every day. That's my hands-on situation.

I make no apologies for being a huge fan of radio songs.

If ever I could love I think it could be with you If ever thought I found somebody so true I wonder if you feel The same way that I do If ever I could love I think it could be with you

There are certain songs that are sacred. People want to hear them just as they are in their head; they don't want you messing around with them. And then there are some other songs, if they've been around a long time in our set list, that I think we can take some creative liberties with.

Everybody needs somebody sometimes.

It can get a little costly if you try and leave it until then to write songs. But you're writing all the time. You're collecting songs. I've had songs that have been collected over a two-year period for my next record.

I'm letting go of all my lonely yesterdays, I've forgiven myself for the mistakes I've made, now there's just one thing, the only thing I wanna do. I wanna love somebody, love somebody like you.

They're mostly done before we went into the studio, although I do like writing in the studio.

Life is about holding on and letting go.

Day after day you find a way to make this grown man cry.

You're always in a different headspace when you make each record, so hopefully they're all different. You just pick up things that you wish you hadn't done on the first one.

Yeah a picture paints a thousand words it’s true, But it’s still not enough for how I feel about you. I wanna put you in a melody, I gotta set you to a groove

I've always been a pretty private, quiet kind of person and so I haven't had to change my life really at all, I don't think.

I tend to write better when I'm not touring.

And if I get it right everybody will be singing along, yeah And when they see you on the street they’ll say, 'Hey, ain’t you the girl in that song?

Take your records take your freedom, Take your memories I don't need 'em, Take your space and all your reasons, But you'll think of me.

Getting on the bus and touring was my life. And when that was not around, I felt myself a bit lost at times, because that was all I had.

I don't swear much; I've taken those words out of my vocabulary, and having kids, you have to have two sets of language!

Raw is a good place for an artist. It's where the truth comes out.

Sometimes I just cry at random stuff!

Country seems to be finding a bigger audience. Certainly an audience out of the general country scene is finding me.