Every day I wake up and I lay in bed counting my blessings and saying my prayers for how fortunate I am to have great fans and health and family.

A lot of people don't have near the amount of success as I've been blessed to have, and it's all about working hard and hoping that continues.

American Idol allowed us to find 'Carrie Underwood.'

Anything I've ever read by John Irving has been really well written.

From my dad I learned to be good to people, to always be honest and straightforward. I learned hard work and perseverance.

I always look back to awards shows and think about being a kid watching them.

I always want to have a personal relationship with everybody that works for me.

I always want to make an album that lets people immerse in it, kind of like you get caught up in a good movie.

I think the attraction to country music is the fans, the lure of the hardcore fan base.

I'm a big sports fan in general.

I've always enjoyed things going at a nice pace, nothing too fast, nothing too crazy.

I've been so blessed to have my career gradually get bigger and bigger, so I've been able to absorb stuff and take stuff gradually.

It's pretty cool to see how far music can take you.

Life's up and down from the time you get here to the time you leave.

My focus is trying to make great music and putting on great shows, and whatever happens beyond that is a bonus to me.

Nothing is more rewarding than to take a song, create it out of thin air and then watch it affect people.

Probably fishing is my first passion.

With every album, the approach is find the best songs you can find, write the best songs you can write and try to sound better.

You always have to work to become a better singer, songwriter and performer.

You never take your fans for granted. You always appreciate them every show, night in, night out.