Tribute To Tradition

What was your inspiration for writing the song "Same Old Train"?

I started the song for an album that I'm about to do. But it didn't quite fit with what I was doing, so I shelved it. And when this came around, I thought,"This is what I was thinking of." The song talks about where country music started, "I got on in Bristol by the old Virginia line," meaning that's exactly where country music's first commercial recordings were done by Ralph Peer with Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. I tried to make the song three-and-a-half minutes of a danceable history lesson.

Was it your intention to have so many artists sing your song?

I thought it would be interesting to pull in as many of the people that I think have really made a difference and will continue to make a difference.

After looking back to country's roots, how do you see the state of country music today?

I think we're making a lot of disposable music with a pop mentality. The thing that's always appealed to me about country is that the artists had endurance. We've made a lasting impression. It's the forgettable stuff that's giving us a bad rap. It's time we pulled back into the heart and soul and "go back to church" in country music and, for the next decade, come up with some more great stuff like we're capable of doing.