When you're with somebody as iconic as Mick Jagger or John Fogerty, I'm really aware that, in asking these guys to collaborate with me, I don't want to add a footnote to their career that's like, 'Shouldn't' have done that.' It's important to make sure that they're well represented.
I like Katy Perry. I like Kesha.
I don't want to do risky. I want to do important. And lovable. Important and lovable.
That's why we do this. In country music, we do this for this very reason... to impact people lyrically, to be a part of their lives.
Everybody goes through a period where you're fighting a lot, I think. Sometimes that can be a good thing for your relationship. That conflict can lead to making up.
Our songs aren't metaphorical, normally: they're literal in their interpretation.
When I made 'Who Needs Pictures,' my first album, I had been west of the Mississippi River one time in my life, and that was in fourth grade. We traveled to California for vacation and stayed with some friends of my parents. It was culture shock, and it was different.
My first tweet was at the CMT Awards when I won an award and typed, 'Thank you.' Then I was hooked because the followers started multiplying. It's a great tool.
I really believe you'll get a music video one of these days that I shot with an iPad because it's that consistent and that good. It's HD.
As long as you continue to have new songs, there's usually some new topic or something to present.
The nice thing about the world that I've been able to inhabit for the last couple of years is that I'm given a lot of freedom. Not all artists really get that.
When you discuss racism, it's almost a no-win scenario - but I don't think that means we shouldn't be discussing it.
I do standup once a year, when I host the CMAs.
I take his talent and his passion with me - to the stage of the Opry, to the podium at the CMA Awards, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, into my own living room. I am the realization of my grandfather's dream. I am a player.
I have a to-do list and I have a farm I care for, and things I like to do for fun - going to movies and all that stuff. It's a painfully normal life!
There are phrases that are totally cliche that we, as songwriters, owe it to ourselves to not use again.
My life would be very puzzling to most people if they had to follow me around for a day or two.
I've been ripping the Rolling Stones off with every song I write in some form or another.
A hat has to be shaped to a person's face so it fights just right. It has to be done right. If you put my hat on, with my shape, you'd look like an idiot. If the bill is too high or too saggy, you look like a European tourist going to their first country concert.
No one can make the album they made 10 years ago with a straight face. There are two reasons: one is you change as a person. To be a true artist, I have to be true to who I am now and write that way. And the second thing is these are different times.
