spent nine years in Nashville struggling to make it as a singer and songwriter. He grew up poor and while he always wanted to be an entertainer, he worked his way through Tennessee Tech before heading to Nashville. He got signed to in 1997, but his first singles failed to make a dent in the charts. He finally hit number four in 2004 with the song and followed it up with an album by the same name. The album was a modest success, and set the stage for . Wanting to make an album with a less produced sound, cut the vocals for in his small home studio. The song was the album's lead single and shot to number one on the charts; it was also the most played country single on radio in 2006. is a big, anthemic song that tips its hat to everybody who's ever had a hard time. Its soaring chorus is as much pop as country, as is the production, which featuring bagpipes, a thumping drumbeat, and a wall of fiddles and banjos. Other hits include the tale of an overprotective father trying to intimidate his daughter's first date by showing up on the front porch with his rifle. sings it first from the perspective of the young man, then as a new father with a young daughter of his own, and strikes the perfect balance between love and aggression. is a celebration of growing up country. It's a string of cliches, the kind of song that can sink under its own sentimental weight, but delivers it with a sly humor that makes it believable. the first number one that co-wrote himself, went gold. It's a midtempo rocker that details the way kids will mimic everything their patents do from cussin' to praying. was reissued in 2010 by with two bonus tracks: ' hit single of June 2010, and one of the first tunes he ever wrote, a poignant ballad of lost love and regret. ~ j. poet