Emmylou Harris is just the biggest influence of mine musically, her and Dolly Parton.
Country music tell stories. That's something that I can relate to.
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.
George Jones was my all-time favorite singer and one of my favorite people in the world.
I grew up listening to Patsy Cline. I was a huge Patsy Cline fan. I still am. Even though she's considered country, I think of her more as a blues singer. She's got a great blues voice, and she has such an amazing story, which I always loved.
My country stuff, it might sound like Hank Williams - that's just the way it is. But I'd rather sound like Hank Williams than Trace Atkins.
I like that old style of country music - it seems to me that a lot of the modern country music is rehashed rock n' roll.
My favorite bands are Hank Williams Jr. and Led Zeppelin. When it's rock, it's '70s rock, and when it's country, it's '70s country. For me, it's the grit and dirt of music that I love so much.
When I pick up Hank Williams' guitar or that first suit that Johnny Cash wore on stage, it empowers me.
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.
I'm a sucker for a good country song.
I've always liked country music. It's a certain aspect of America that goes back to the British Isles and the influence is very native to America.
I don't really listen to pop-country, but I like really, really old country that's closer to folk. Like Johnny Cash, who is considered country.
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.
And I got to know Red Foley well. And I got to know Lefty really well, he was a great guy.
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.
When country music is doing its job, it reports on the good, bad and indifferent of our human condition.
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys are simply the best band that ever was.
I was always sort of mystified and excited about the world of country music. Something about it struck me as enchanted.
I'm a laid-back Texas boy.
I don't know anybody who doesn't hate being called alt.country. It just sounds like a website. I don't mind being called Americana, I don't mind being called country noir, or independent country is fine, but the words alt.country make me insane.
I didn't really get crazy about Bob Wills until 1940.
George Jones may be gone but his music will live on forever. What a great voice and a great friend.
The storytelling in country music is so powerful.
Country music tells stories, and I've always loved to tell stories.
