Writing is very much a playground – an artistic playground. It’s the most fun thing I do.

I have arm-wrestled here and there… guys seem to want to test my strength.

I really hope my peers appreciate and respect what I’m doing.

Putting a stamp on things just helps you say, ‘Hey, yesterday I was there, and today I’m here.’ It’s another step forward, and it feels like another turning point and an unleashing of creativity, and now I’m going to start focusing on the show and the production, the fun stuff that comes with it.

I feel like in a way I’m starting over, with everything.

I was in a very deep, dark slump, and I needed to find a way to get myself out of it. I had to force myself back out into life, back out into experiencing things.

I really feel like life will dictate itself. You should allow it to unfold as naturally as possible. Just go with the flow. When you’re really desperate, you say a few prayers and hope for the best. That’s the way I’ve always lived my life.

One day, someone said to me, ‘Do you want to go jump out of an airplane?’ I felt like I had nothing to lose anymore, so I said, ‘Why not?’ And every day since then, I ask myself that question.

I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that’s making me successful.

Writing is very much a playground – an artistic playground. It’s the most fun thing I do.

If my clothing does stand out, then I guess it’s a compliment, but I just wear whatever feels comfortable.

I don’t want my body to be a distraction from my talent or my brain.

All I ever intended was to make a living at what I do. Everything I’ve achieved since then is above and beyond.

The only reason that you do visual is solely for the visual. That’s the only reason. It doesn’t sell your music for you.

My voice is stronger today than ever.

I feel sexy when I get out of the tub – your skin is fresh and you’ve put up your hair without looking.

It was just like a dream. I could have ended up with an album that’s not all that different from anything else coming out of Nashville. Mutt made the difference. He took these songs, my attitude, my creativity, and colored them in a way that is unique.

There were moments when I really just thought, I don’t need anything and I don’t need anyone. I just want to go away and disappear.

I lost my sense of trust, honesty and compassion. I crashed down and became what I consider an emotional mess. I’ve never been so miserable in my whole life. I just wanted to go to bed and never get up.

I feel like I’m on top of the world. Honestly, I feel like I’ve climbed a very giant mountain, and I’m just standing right on top with my arms wide open and breathing rarified air.

Yes, you can lose somebody overnight, yes, your whole life can be turned upside down. Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind.

Later in my life, I’m going to look back and smile and be very fulfilled. I know that if I don’t give it my all right now I’ll regret it later. That’s very important to me, because I’ve worked all my life to have this.

Without a doubt, the best way to get to know me is through my music.

I’ll always be sad that my marriage ended.

I’m never at my best on television. There’s a row of cameras between you and the audience, and it’s very weird, very confusing.

I’m more private than people realize. I’m not that easy to get to know.

It’s important to give it all you have while you have the chance.

Country music is still your grandpa’s music, but it’s also your daughter’s music. It’s getting bigger and better all the time and I’m glad to be a part of it.

So many people bare their midriffs, I don’t know why mine is such an issue.

Dysphonia is not a singing problem. It’s a voice box issue in the muscle on the voice, very different from having a nodule on the vocal cords, which I’ve never had. I’m lucky that I’ve never had that. It needs a long renewal time, and even today, I am still addressing it.