Roger Miller opened a lot of people's eyes to the possibilities of country music, and it's making more impact now because it's earthy material: stories and things that happen to everyday people. I call it 'people music.'

I know it was raw in some places, and I was a jerk in some places, but that's the way I was, and I was stupid.

You don't play around with a good song. You try to just say it right in the proper place, and if you get the music and voice in tune, you'll be all right. That's always worked for me.

With the first money I got, I built my parents a house back home, gave them a string of credit cards, and said 'Go.'