I knew I had that Cajun heritage, that Acadian heritage; I just feel it. And my gut says Irish on the other side. Irish and French, that's what I feel. When you're young, it doesn't matter so much, but as you get older, I would suspect part of the ageing process is to wonder about your ancestors - who were they? What were their lives like?

I got sober at 27 and started writing around 30 and started playing music in public around 32, 33.

Songs, especially lyrics, have always been really important to me.

I got interviewed by one writer who started with the line, 'Mary Gauthier is a woman who clearly doesn't care how she looks.' I do too. It's just that I'm not very good at it.

I have such a good life. It's something I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams.

When you see validation for a life's work and dedication, it's a beautiful day.

The first picture of me that I know of was me in the crib wearing a pair of cowboy boots.

As a photographer, God's light in Southern California is something unlike I've ever seen on planet Earth. There's a beauty about it, especially in the afternoon that is so pretty.

After something has run its course, you either become a parody and keep doing it, or tear it down and know the truth about it, warts and all.

I don't know how it got around that I play a lot of instruments. I really don't. I play the guitar and the mandolin.

We need a new Hank Williams, a new Jimmy Webb. We need new writers, a new Tom Petty. We need people that write what they feel and what they see - things that are relevant.

I loved the Rolling Stones. I heard a little bit of country music creeping around the edges of some of their songs. Being a Mississippi kid, I could feel they had done their homework, even when I was a little boy. I could feel the Delta blues influence in a lot of their work.

Growing up in the Sixties, whether it was the Batmobile or the costumes Porter Wagoner wore or the music that came from there, California was the home of what a friend of mine calls 'custom culture.' It seemed like the promised land.

I make no apology about being a hillbilly.

I hate labels.

The Ryman and the Grand Ole Opry, if you're a Southern boy, is just a way of life.

Hillbilly Rock' was the song that opened the door and gave me a reason to get a bus and a band and cowboy clothes to go out there and figure it out in front of everybody. And the hits started coming.

There wasn't really a lot of difference from a Mississippi perspective between what Elvis did on 'Mystery Train' or 'Milkcow Blues' or what Bill Monroe was playing or what Flatt and Scruggs was playing; it was rock 'n' roll to me.

When I was 12 years old I discovered Bill Monroe and my dad got me a mandolin.

Rock 'n' roll entertained my head but there was something about country music that touched my heart.

I've always been a collector at heart.

When times are good, we have tunes to dance to; when times are tough, we're supposed to talk about it. That's country music.

I'm always on the prowl for the kinds of recordings that can inspire and potentially make a difference.

Well, my heart finally found a home when I married Connie Smith, and I was tired of feeling bad. And it was time to grow up and get on with life.