Keith Whitley

“They say country music stands for more than the rural life. It's about life, period, whether lived in a high-rise or a hollow. I don't think rural or urban has that much to do with it.”

“I thought everybody had to drink to be in this business.”

“I keep progressing with each record, and that's a positive sign.”

“I did so many crazy things while drinking.”

“I had a rock and roll band as a kid. What I wanted to be in was a country band, but in Sandy Hook, Ky., you're hard-pressed to find a steel guitar player or a drummer.”

“It's funny, but no matter how good an artist is, it's not until he stands on his own two feet and sticks to his guns that things are going to come together.”

“I believe in 'Hard Livin'.' The song has a lot of potential. I sang it on the road for about a year before I put it on an album. The crowds really seemed to like it.”

“My manager, my band members, we're all good friends. You need that because a lot of times an artist will be so sheltered he will lose touch with what the fans want.”

“I've played the Opry before.”

“I liked 'Ten Feet the first time I heard it and it became my first top 10.”

“Even when I was 3 or 4 years old, I'd go out riding in the car with mom and dad, and I already knew all the songs off mom's Hank Williams and George Jones records by heart. I remember just sitting in the back seat and singing them at the top of my lungs.”

“You have to come to terms with yourself as an artist and know what you do best.”

“Most of the things I sing in my songs, I've lived.”

“Songs I do have to strike an emotional chord the first time I sing them.”

“Shortly after I started in bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs and I got together and the bluegrass career just snowballed. Being 15 or 16 and making good money playing music was pretty attractive.”