Occupation: Country-music performer.
Birthday: Jan. 12, 1952.
Birthplace: Grit, Va.
Current home: Nashville.
Marital status: Married to Bettye Shelton since 1986.
Car: A white 1990 Pontiac Bonneville.
Working on: I`ll be appearing at the TNN Music City News Country Awards tomorrow on TNN. I`ve been nominated for six awards. And I`m recording two new songs for a Greatest Hits album to come out in August.
I stay home to watch: I make it a point not to watch the news. It`s garbage. The networks thrive on violence, and every time something bad happens, they blow it out of proportion just to get their ratings up.
The book I`ve been reading is: The Bible.
Favorite performer: Elvis Presley. He was just plain old good.
Favorite childhood memory: My next-door neighbor and I used to play in this huge poplar tree. We called it the Tarzan tree, and we`d swing on a vine and land in the creek.
Prized possession: My farm in Nashville. It`s 150 acres. I raise beefalo, a cross between buffalo and cattle.
Personal heroes: Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and John Wayne.
Nobody knows I`m: Lonely.
I`ve never been able to: Read quickly.
A really great evening to me is: Fishing right before dark and then having a good meal.
My fantasy is: Having enough money to retire, but I know I`ll work till I die.
My most irrational act: Taking my first drink of alcohol.
Nobody would believe it, if they saw me: Digging holes to plant fence posts on my farm.
The best time of my life: My childhood. We worked in the tobacco fields and got up hay, then we played in the rivers and creeks and ponds and woods. I learned how to survive at an early age.
The worst time of my life: A couple of years ago when I got to drinking too much. I asked God to help me quit, and He did.
If I weren`t a singer, I`d be: A pipefitter or a plumber.
If I`ve learned one thing in life, it`s: Money doesn`t cure everything.
Three words that best describe me: Honest, understanding and hopeful.
