You can't write about stuff you don't know about. You have to live it. You have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Live life to be a good songwriter.

And I'm the biggest country fan there is, but I'm always a little cautious of a slower song or just a song with subject matter.

And if I want to get involved in choosing sides, I usually pick hockey or football.

As a songwriter, you might write every day and throughout the course of a year you might get four songs that are really special.

I also was a huge 'Dukes of Hazzard' fan. I used to have T-shirts that said 'Dierks of Hazzard' custom-made.

I mean, the last thing I want to do is be involved in politics.

I try to make an album that reflects what I love about country music. It's not just all about happy parties all the time. There are some sad songs.

I'm a huge fan of Billy Idol. I spiked my hair every day like him in 7th and 8th grade.

I'm a member of the George Jones fan club, and I'm a member of U2's fan club.

No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.

That's what I love about Nashville and the music community - seeing kids around acoustic music and bluegrass picking parties is the best.

When I was 13, I was just figuring out how to play 'Eruption,' poorly, by Eddie Van Halen.

When you go to the Opry for a show or hear it on the radio, you get the whole circle of country music.

But as far as being an American and loving this country and getting a chance to travel across it every day and meeting people on the road and folks in the military, I love this country on so many different levels.

Country music is always changing but the Opry is always there to serve as a lighthouse for what country music really is. The past, present and future is all encompassed by not only the physical structure of the building but also the radio show.

I always say the best applause you can get is when you walk from backstage up to your microphone at a concert. It's also nice to walk up to the mike at an awards show, and that applause is great, too, but the best is when your fans are cheering for you.

I like big shows, a lot of volume and a lot of energy. I love electric instruments. But I do love mixing those with bluegrass instruments and cranking those up, too, with a little bit of that rock energy.

I think the great country songs mixed with some of that bluegrass instrumentation - and surrounding all that with a little bit of a rock vibe and energy - is the kind of music I make.

I'm part of the party, getting the crowd fired up, singing songs, pouring drinks, whatever it takes to get them to have a good time. When I walk into the meet-and-greet, someone's always going to have a story, a sad story or a happy story.

My dad and grandpa were in the army and as a country singer you're constantly playing at military bases all across the country and meeting soldiers and their families and hearing their stories.