My mother kept asking me, 'When are you going to do a gospel album?' And I've always wanted to do a gospel album. Everybody was going on about it, so mom started hounding me more.

I didn't realize until I was older what a huge music fan my daddy really was, and actually that my grandma played banjo at one time, and I didn't even know that until a year or two ago.

For some reason I've been labeled that and it's fine, but there are a lot of other artists that sing real traditional stuff, so I don't know why they picked me. That's what I've always done.

My mother kept asking me, 'When are you going to do a gospel album?' And I've always wanted to do a gospel album. Everybody was going on about it, so mom started hounding me more.

Hee Haw was probably my biggest exposure to live music at a young age, because there wasn't any live music around my town and no one in my family played instruments.

I could have done a hundred songs, really. It was hard to narrow them down, because I tried to pick songs for the most part that actually did have some effect on me or influenced me in the past.

Probably some of the songs I never even really listened to the lyrics. Half of them I'd hear off the radio and was probably singing the wrong words and didn't even know it.

I really was a fan of his and always have been - his writing especially, you know? I think people a lot of times overlook that part, because he kind of got into that party character so heavy.

He's written some great songs. I thought that "Blues Man" was a perfect song for me to do as a tribute.

A country song is a song about life.

Growing up in Georgia, I used to think people up north or out west were so different. They're really not. They're just regular people who live in small towns. They grow up and try to raise families and have a job and go to church and play softball. It's that way everywhere.

He's written some great songs. I thought that 'Blues Man' was a perfect song for me to do as a tribute.

I grew up with nothing, so whenever I got to where I could have something I felt like I needed to have everything I couldn't have when I was young.

I like to write sad songs. They're much easier to write and you get a lot more emotion into them. But people don't want to hear them as much. And radio definitely doesn't; they want that positive, uptempo thing.

I mean, I am driven and laid-back at the same time.

I mean, my voice has gotten a little deeper sounding as I've gotten older, I think. I noticed that.

I think every album you have, especially if it's done well, you feel like you're competing with yourself.

I think if you retire from touring then people think you are retired.

I'm usually just enjoying life.

I've always wanted to make a bluegrass album.

If anything good came out of 9/11, to me, was that people were so cynical about the world - all you hear about on the news is all the bad stuff everyday, but what was refreshing to me was after that, you saw how many good people there are out there. For every one bad one, there's a thousand good ones.

If you can last until you're 40 years old, hopefully you'll be mature enough to figure out the rest of the years.

Making music is still what keeps a fire going on in me.

Oklahoma's always been good to me.

The music business doesn't take up that much of my time. I probably should put a little more energy into it.

The older you are, I think you realize what you enjoy and what you don't need, what wears you out and what's important.

What I enjoy doing more than anything is, I have my little antique car collection, and when the weather is pretty I like to get out one of my old cars. I have a little route I run down in the country, down Nachez Trace Parkway. The loop down through there is just really relaxing, not much traffic.

You have to be tough-skinned and willing to accept criticism, and at the same time, just try to do music that you like and you are proud of and not just whatever you think it's going to take to get you on the radio.

You just write about things that happen.

To me, songwriting is the backbone of Nashville. Looks can go, fads can go, but a good song lasts forever.

My mom moved up between Leland and Greenville when I was just a little tot.

My mom took me to see Carnal Knowledge and The Wild Bunch and all these kind of movies when I was a kid.

Depending on what day of the week it is and what time of the month it is, I'm a good friend or not a good friend. I'm more or less a good mom or not a good mom, more or less a good mate or not a good mate. That's just life, whether or not you're public.

When you are getting ready to become a mom, being in love with someone just isn't enough. You need to think about whether he would be a good parent and raise your children with similar beliefs.

I was a hyper kid in school and the teacher suggested to my mom she needed to do something with me.

My mom put me in a Pampers commercial on TV.

Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

I love those hockey moms. You know what they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is? Lipstick.

My mom doesn't get the whole gay thing, but she loves me.

I sing seriously to my mom on the phone. To put her to sleep, I have to sing "Maria" from West Side Story. When I hear her snoring, I hang up.

My mom and dad met at UCLA when he as a captain in the Air Force and she was in her junior year.

My memory of my mom is a wine glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was a runway fashion model, and she was quite a glamorous woman.

Mom and Dad would stay in bed on Sunday morning, but the kids would have to go to church.

My mom used to say that Greek Easter was later because then you get stuff cheaper.

I was always a drama queen. I remember playing in the kitchen, trying to get my mom to think I was dead and call the police. When she didn't, I would cry. I was always theatrical. I don't think any of my relatives are surprised.

I'm talking like 10, 12 years old. Either junior brings Mom and Pop or Mom and Pop bring the kids. I'm talking young here, not a college drinking crowd.

There is nothing better than being a parent. It is the most challenging job one could ever ask for. I love being a mom and I love being a friend to my children as well.

With my new venture, Club Mom, we want to empower moms to feel their value and also build their collective power to make their lives better and easier. We want to bring them together as a community to share experiences and information.

It was sort of just a family sport. My mom and dad were pretty keen golfers when I was young and so were my grandparents, and I just sort of tagged along with them.