Country California

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I’ve turned down ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ I’m not gonna do that, just not gonna do it. I’m not gonna humiliate myself just to be on television. ●
- – Trace Adkins, who (if memory serves) performed “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” with a bevy of cowgirl dancers gyrating around him on some awards show awhile back.

As any successful musician can tell you, it’s a lot easier to fall out of the spotlight than it is to climb into it, which is why Clint Black was especially smart to secure his future with the establishment of Equity Music Group. ●
- – Donald Trump’s quote on Clint Black’s business acumen is just a tad late to be persuasive.

I’ve gone home with bruises – unexplained bruises – until I got to thinking back where they may have come from. Everything’s spontaneous onstage with Eddie and I. I’ve gone home with dings in the guitars and bruises on my legs and on my arms. ●
- – Troy Gentry better watch out for those twirling mic stands.

I have a phobia of drains and hair anywhere in the shower (drains, soap: gross!). ●
- – The ever-dramatic Jennifer Nettles lowers the bar for what qualifies as a phobia. I guess I have a phobia (read: mild distaste) of typos in published works?

The funny thing about critics is that most of them are followers. If someone starts a BIG bandwagon with your name on it, those critics are going to jump on and start yelling for ya. So why let them try to lead in the first place? ●
- – Miss Leslie offers some advice on dealing with critics.

I wanted to write songs about things I thought were important. The world has gotten so caught up in what New York’s doing and what L.A.’s doing. What about all the other people? We don’t talk about them anymore because it’s not cool. That’s what this record’s all about. ●
- – Oh, a country record that’s critical of what’s happening in New York and L.A. How innovative, John Rich.

If I listen to an album of my stuff and it’s all traditional country, I get bored listening to it after a while. You need something with drive to it that perks up the ears. ●
- – If I listen to an album of Jason Aldean’s stuff and it’s all traditional country, I wonder why I’m not dreaming about something cool instead.

Q: You’ve been playing in front of 15,000 people while you’ve been on the road opening for Toby Keith. What’s that been like? Have you been playing pranks on each other?
A: No. I think the only pranks he plays are jumping into the audience and actually getting into fights with his fans (laughs), which is a pretty good prank. He jumped off his stage two weeks ago, I think, because someone poured beer on the stage and flipped him off. I was going to pull that prank. I was going to go out during the same section of the song and pour beer on the stage and flip him off and at the last minute, I was “Nah, I’m not going to do that.” ●
- – Jack Ingram is a funny guy.

Honestly, I don’t miss the Mavericks. The Mavericks are a bittersweet memory for me. There are a lot of great memories, and there are also a lot of shit memories. And things didn’t end so happily. It’s not like we’re all great friends. It ended up in ugly lawsuits that cost me a lot of money and caused a lot of pain and suffering for my family and my kids. ●
- – Raul Malo on The Mavericks. I pulled this quote a few days ago, but see that Jim Malec’s interview with Malo just went up at The 9513, so be sure to check that out too.

I have a sick Pat Benatar T-shirt. ●
- – I think Jake Owen’s answers to the EW Pop Culture Personality Test might be a little too candid.