If you talk bad about country music, it's like saying bad things about my momma. Them's fightin' words

Sometimes I am two people. Johnny is the nice one. Cash causes all the trouble. They fight.

Country music was the most segregated kind of music in America, where even whites played jazz and even blacks sang in the opera. Something like country music was what lynch mobs must have enjoyed while stringing up their black victims. Country music was not necessarily lynching music, but no other music could be imagined as lynching’s accompaniment. Beethoven’s Ninth was the opus for Nazis, concentration camp commanders, and possibly President Truman as he contemplated atomizing Hiroshima, classical music the refined score for the high-minded extermination of brutish hordes. Country music was set to the more humble beat of the red-blooded, bloodthirsty American heartland.

They only want to be there while you’re on top, and when you haven’t gotten a gig in a while and you don’t know how you’re going to pay your rent at the end of the month and the glamor they thought they signed up for is gone, they’re walking out the door, leaving you to pick up the pieces.

Nashville has always been competitive. My granddaddy called it the Hillbilly Babylon.

Truth has a resonance to it that fills the cracks where falsehoods lie.

Country music is the poetry of the American spirit.

They hadn’t been good months. About as ugly as a wet warthog and as messed up as a bumblebee in a snowstorm.

That girl's heart is bigger than Texas." Her eyes narrowed. "And it's as tender as a baby's butt. You take care with it, you hear?

Music may be his passion -- but this, right here, was his dream.

I love you, music man. You are my happily ever after.

Tyler, I'd marry you again in a heartbeat. You are my fairy tale.

Her wide, gorgeous smile was the culprit. It was pure magic. Neighbors lined the parking lot, eager to empty their pockets, all so she'd shine that beam on them.

My flight arrives at eight in the morning," he mentioned casually. "Any chance you can come and get me?"..."Pick you up from the airport? That seems hardcore, Ty. Normally, I'm married to a guy for at least a couple weeks before I take that big a step.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. She didn't need to turn around to know he was standing behind her. Most likely with a smirk at catching her impromptu belly dance.

Elvis is sweet, but I prefer sleeping with you.

My happy place, huh? Well, yeah, I guess that's what music is for me.

Great. So basically you're saying your entire family is trained to kick my ass if I step out of line."Sherry tapped his chest with a smirk she didn't quite feel. "AND don't you forget it.""Well, except for me," Colby replied. "I leave the fighting to my man. I'd just slip something in your food.

The low E is at the top, the second string is A, then it's D, G, B, and the last one is high E." A mnemonic device he once heard came to mind and, plucking the strings, he said, "Eddie Ate Dynamite... Good Bye Eddie,.

You know, the heroes in my romance novels always say that. Scout's honor. But they all later admit to never being a Boy Scout.

Staring into his eyes, she noticed a thin circle of gray around the green. A SILVER LINING, she thought.

What a good morning it was. Tyler stood before her, six-plus feet of denim-clad hotness. A woodsy scent wafted toward her, and she inhaled deeply, loving the smell of his cologne. The man was gorgeous, and he was hers for the next twenty-four hours.

With chemistry like theirs, this was the perfect setup for a fling...and Sherry wanted to go out on a high note."BRING ON THE ROADIE!

Because I seeA rainstorm in JuneJust before the sunThe black of nightJust before the starsAnd, girl, I see your ghostJust before our dawn

Apparently, I'm a sucker for a man with belt buckles the size of Texas.

Okay... well... learning the two-step is like learning to ride a bull. It ain't easy. You gotta feel the bull's rhythm and move with it. Let the bull lead you. Alright... put your weight on your left foot." I do as he says, knowing without him needing to further illustrate, that I'm the bull rider and he's the bull.

And we'll let the world dance around us while you lie here in my arms. The beat of your heart is all the music I need to hear. I spent my whole life searching for this melody, so I'll listen while I hold you near.

Cause I am strong and I can prove itAnd I got my dreams to see me throughIt's just a mountain, I can move itAnd with faith enough there's nothing I can't doAnd I can see the light of a clear blue morningAnd I can see the light of brand new dayI can see the light of a clear blue morningAnd everything's gonna be all rightIt's gonna be okay [lyrics from "Light of a Clear Blue Morning"]

Funny how a melody sounds like a memory.

I continued toward Atlanta with a Merle Haggard C.D. playing on the stereo. They weren't great hosts, but those guys in The Ted Kaczynski Fan Club had great taste in music. It was all classic country music- none of that sissy, boy-band country that they played on the radio all the time. I drove down the road while Merle preferred to just stay where he was and drink.