I started out in gospel music. A lot of people don't know that I started out in gospel music, and I've never lost sight of it.

The four things a hillbilly singer needs are a Cadillac, a Nudie suit, the right hairdo, and a pair of pointy-toed boots.

If I go into the Mississippi Delta at pitch black midnight and put on a Robert Johnson record, it's hard to sit in the car because it's pretty powerful.

The stories in our music form a special viewpoint on the story of America in the 20th Century.

I went out on the road when I was 12 years old, playing with the Sullivan Family Gospel Singers. That was the summer of 1972. We played Pentecostal churches, camp meetings, George Wallace campaign rallies and bluegrass festivals. As a kid, I had grown up watching quartets that were very entertaining.

There was a junk store in Nashville on 8th Avenue, where I bought Patsy Cline's train case for $75.

One thing that I love about country music, probably more so than any other culture - maybe the blues rivals it - there are so many American folk heroes. There's the Coal Miner's Daughter, the Man in Black, the Red-Headed Stranger, and on and on.

Well, I've always said that country music has always shared a very unique relationship with gospel music - the hooting and hollering, you know, always in abundance.

I believe in the future of country music, but a future without roots is like a kite with no string.

Being sober and clear-eyed changes everything.

Nothing is as important as standing up for what you believe in.

Everyone has their own opinion about what should be on the radio and I think there's room for all different people.

I think our core fans have stayed true to us, and I want to thank them for staying with us.

We were playing shows still when we wrote 'Phoebe' and 'Rock All Night.' We got to test those songs in a live setting, so it was nice recording them and knowing which ones really resonated with the crowd.

So many times I've gone to hear bands and thought, 'Oh, I can't wait to be on that stage.'

Sometimes when our manager calls me and says certain things, we go, 'Oh God, we've gotta do that?'

I connect better with music when I see the people singing it.

I love watching live music. It's one of the reasons I love living in Austin, Texas, because there is so much live music.

If you're making $10 an hour and you're doing your job and you're doing it well and your check is consistently $8.75 an hour, who wouldn't stand up for themselves?

Even though we were selling more records than a lot of pop acts, we were being treated like the redheaded stepchildren.

I now recognize that having a great company behind you can actually impact your motivation to be more creative.

I don't think any of us ever trusted Nashville. When you're in that town you know everybody is talking about everybody else. Everybody is wishing for the other guy to fail.

As an artist, your only way to battle your label if you have a discrepancy is to go to court. I don't understand why you can't both agree if you have an accounting problem to have a third party to assess the situation.

We're not going to change the world or the music business.