My dad and grandpa were in the army and as a country singer you're constantly playing at military bases all across the country and meeting soldiers and their families and hearing their stories.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I grew up watching my dad be a singer, so it's something I've always been interested in.
I have a band that I started with a buddy of mine, a Vietnam veteran pal named Kimo Williams from Chicago.
My father and brothers were in the military.
My dad was a huge country music fan, but he also had a band and he sang. So he'd listen to a lot of music and the songs that he'd learn for the band were more from the male artists. So my earliest country memories were Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck even.
My mom wanted to be a country singer, too, so country was always being played. And my girlfriends and I used to go to concerts, like Brad Paisley, in middle school and high school.
My father was an aspiring country singer and songwriter. He just didn't get that off that ground. I was afraid, very tentative to do anything with music for years. I didn't tell him I was playing in bands when I was away from home, because it had been such an unpleasant experience and a letdown for him.
My mother was a singer, and both of her sisters were singers. There was always music around.
I felt a little uncomfortable because, when I went in to the military, I was the main male vocalist they had and when I came out they had like two or three vocalists. Otis came in when I was in the military, too.
Country music tells stories, and I've always loved to tell stories.
My mother was the first singer I had contact with. She sang constantly to us around the house, in church.