I came to town thinking that everybody had the same idea of what country music was that I did.
True country music is honesty, sincerity, and real life to the hilt.
Part of the great thing of looking back on how I went from the cattle ranch to the White House was, I was a country music DJ. I saw Garth Brooks perform for free in 1992 at the Colorado State Fair where I met this person who knew about this graduate school program.
Country music has room for a little bit of everything.
I always give a lot of credit to Ronnie Dunn for making me fall in love with country music.
I'll tell you sort of an odd story: My music taste changed on 9/11. And it's very strange. I actually intellectually find this very curious. But on 9/11, I didn't like how rock music responded. And country music collectively, the way they responded, it resonated with me.
That's why I've always loved country music. Whether it's sad, pumps you up, or it's breakup songs, it's all real-life things.
Country fans need to support country music by buying albums and concert tickets for traditional artists or the music will just fade away. And that would be really sad.
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.
It means so much being a part of country music and the Opry.
I love Johnny Cash but I don't love country music that much.
I'm not the only one who has ever lost somebody; I'm not the only one who was missing somebody. That's what I love about country music, that's what I love about songwriters, is being able to put out those words, those feelings.
My love, growing up on the Prairies, was country music.
Growing up, I remember thinking country music was all honky-tonks and beer and trucks - Britney Spears was my first concert.
I just love where I am right now in my career. I love country music. I don't ever feel restricted by the genre. I've been able to have a solid career that we've built one step at a time and a family. I know that I'm in a good place.
The most flattering thing I hear is, 'I didn't think I liked country music before I heard your record.'
If it's a good song and it fits me, that's what I'm going to do, I'm not out there trying to change the world. I'm just out there trying to sing country music the best way I can.
I think I first realized I wanted to be in country music and be an artist when I was 10. And I started dragging my parents to festivals, and fairs, and karaoke contests, and I did that for about a year before I came to Nashville for the first time. I was 11 and I had this demo CD of me singing Dixie Chicks and Leanne Rimes songs.
Everyone wants to be an arena act, and it's making country music evolve. People are cutting things more for that arena environment. But who's to say that that is a sign of any more of a successful career than what James Taylor has been able to do, when he still comes and plays the Ryman every two years?
On 'American Idol,' I felt like one of my challenges was picking songs because I've definitely been exposed to a lot of music. So when I went to pick songs, it was difficult for me to choose, but I'd always go to country because country music is so memorable.
Shania Twain brought a whole other fan base to country music with her sound, the way the videos were produced.
Of emotions, of love, of breakup, of love and hate and death and dying, mama, apple pie, and the whole thing. It covers a lot of territory, country music does.
If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Them's fightin' words.
I was one of the very first people to ever do a video in country music.
I've always wanted to sing country music.
The truth is, I think country music... there's a lot of great people, and just being raised the way a lot of country boys and girls are, hopefully there's just a lot of respect.
I'm a hybrid-genre person, which a lot of people find confusing. I grew up listening to American country music and rock n' roll made between 1955 and 1959. The Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry were my first musical loves and are still what I am most moved by. Roy Orbison came a little bit later.
If you want me in the Hall of Fame put me in because of some contributions that I have made to country music.
I've seen country music go uptown, like we say, and I'm proud I was there when it happened.
I never listened to country music growing up.
I'm not from the South, but I love country music. And country music is really big in the Midwest. Connie Smith came from Ohio. Jessi Colter was from Arizona.
It never mattered to me that people in school didn't think that country music was cool, and they made fun of me for it - though it did matter to me that I was not wearing the clothes that everybody was wearing at that moment. But at some point, I was just like, 'I like wearing sundresses and cowboy boots.'
I grew up with all kinds ofmusic, but my heart was particularly drawn to Country Music because of the guitar playing, the lyrics and of artists like Steve Warner and Vince Gill.
I discovered in college that country music could be fun adding some swing to it.
Country music has the great stories.
Oh, I think country has changed tremendously. I think country has totally changed. Country music when I was a kid was Hank Williams. If you put Hank and Elvis together, there wasn't that musical difference. But as the Beatles showed up and the English invasion, I think country music got pretty far away from rock n' roll.