So you do shorter versions of the hits, or you take out a long guitar solo or things like that to make time for the hits and new music as well. But I don't think any of us ever get to do as much new music as we would like to.

The satisfaction comes because you work hard and it pays off. It is not as glamorous as I thought it would be, but, you know, I appreciate it more than I ever knew I would, and I love it more than I ever knew I would.

Well, probably having to be away from home. When I come back I kind of feel like there's a routine going on that I'm not a part of, so that can be difficult.

When you really are country, and you don't just wear it like a piece of clothing or something, you really can't get away from it. It just is who you are.

With this album, I tried not to think too much. If I heard a song that I loved, I promised myself I wouldn't over-think it. If I loved it and if I wanted to cut it, I would.

You know, you want everything you do, obviously, to be a success critically and commercially. But what you find out as you go along is that everything won't.

I think you can have moderate success by copying something else, but if you really want to knock it out of the park, you have to do something different and take chances.

I've learned the lesson that when you're in the middle of something that seems overwhelming, or you're in a bad situation and it seems like it's the end of the world or whatever, then you learn that it's not.

The satisfaction that I get from doing what I do is not what I thought. I thought it would be that I'd feel like a star, I'd feel important. But I don't.

And I hate to see artists who are real safe. I love to see artists swing for the fences sometimes.

But I'm also a music lover, and I'll always try a lot of different things.

I came to town thinking that everybody had the same idea of what country music was that I did.

I can see me continuing to make the best music I can, and let the chips fall where they may.

I think it is very important in this business to be an individual.

I want to reach as many people as I can.

I'm the most low-maintenance person on the road.

Nominations come and go. It is not going to happen to you every year, and I am very well aware of that.

A lot of times in this business, we are taking advantage of hot times in our career to do a lot of TV and a lot of radio and that sort of thing, and George is able to be so humble that he can get away with not doing those things.

And for the past 10 years I've been in a real commercial setting where people are all about numbers, they're all about that bottom line. So it's nice to step out of that and hang out with a bunch of people who play music just because they love it, as you can imagine.

And I also have a camera, a Web cam, and I have one at home, so I can hook up and talk to the girls, and they can see me while we're on the bus in the middle of nowhere.