"I'm a black man, and I've been through a lot of things. But I've always kept my head up."

"My music is simple. It's country with a little bit of blues and a little bit of pop. It's not complicated. It's just good music."

"I don’t care about lyrics. I care about rhythm."

"I don't think about the past. I think about the present and the future."

"I never learned to read music. I just played by ear."