For Love of Country

We Look Out for Strangers

By Shania Twain

I left Canada really with nothing, and came to the U.S. looking for a future. I had no parents after they died in a car accident. Luckily, I was embraced by mentors who would invite me to their house on weekends to be with their family. We’d play guitar and sing. They cooked Southern food. I was welcomed on a personal level, which gave me a good impression of America. —A.N.

As Shania Twain, 56, plans a new album, her Las Vegas residency runs through Sept. 10.

Our Founders Were Brilliant

By Clint Black

It all really stems from the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the idea that this was a new thing in the world. They called it an experiment, but it was a lot of brilliant people who had seen how things had gone wrong elsewhere. They created this thing that could be self-correcting. They put in mechanisms to keep it from going too far astray.

You as an individual, for the first time in history, have a chance to make positive changes to the country you were born in. That’s a big reason for me to be glad to be born in the U.S. —A.N.

Clint Black, 60, resumes his “Mostly Hits & the Mrs.” tour this fall, with wife Lisa Hartman Black. He hosts Talking in Circles With Clint Black on the Circle network.

We Have Choices

By Wynonna Judd

I was doing a show and getting ready to sing one of my hits. A man gave me flowers. He was from somewhere like Iran, and he said, “We were not allowed to listen to music on the radio.” I said, “What do you mean?” I had no idea where to go with that kind of comment. This guy blew the doors off when he said that. I looked at him and said, “Oh, my God, tell me more.” He said, “You don’t know what it’s like to not be able to listen to music.”

I don’t. To be an American means I will never have to think about what it’s like not to have choices. I think the song I was about to sing was “She Is His Only Need,” ironically. —A.N.

Wynonna Judd, 58, was a 2021 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her late mother, Naomi, as the Judds.

We Inspire Others

By Martina McBride

I got tons of mail about my song “Independence Day,” people telling me how it gave them the courage to leave a bad relationship. They felt like someone understood what they were going through, or they understood that it wasn’t their fault. This song took on a life of its own.

“Independence Day” peaked at number 10, which also taught me that songs are sometimes bigger than a chart number. —A.N.

Martina McBride, 55, has had five number 1 country singles.

We Honor Our Protectors

By Barbara Mandrell

I appreciate when someone says to one of our veterans, “Thank you for your service.” These people give everything and live to defend and protect our nation. And their families have to sacrifice just as much. Our first Christmas as man and wife, Ken was overseas. If you’re the children or the spouse of someone serving, you’re all serving. I can’t think of any folks who are greater than those Americans who serve us. —A.N.

Barbara Mandrell, 73, performed regularly for U.S. troops. Husband Ken Dudney was a Navy pilot.

Immigrants Shaped Our Culture

By Lee Ann Womack

In the small town where I grew up, there are dance halls that were built mostly by German or Czech immigrants. They were community centers, a gathering place. People would go there for meetings, like fraternal organizations, then hear music on Saturday night and go to church there on Sunday morning.

If you moved to this vast, open place called Texas from Germany or Central Europe, you needed a place to feel like you belonged, a place to gather, bring food and music from home — a sense of community. And this is where a lot of these German polka beats you came to hear in early Texas country music — and blues and Tejano music — came together. —A.N.

Lee Ann Womack, 55, is from Jacksonville, Texas. Over a 25-year career in music, she has won six Country Music Association Awards.

A Vow for Democracy

By Ronnie Dunn

Our democracy is not something that just shows up; it’s something you have to work at, like a marriage. You don’t just say, “I do.” We’re still growing. —A.N.

Ronnie Dunn, 69, is the lead singer of the duo Brooks & Dunn.

Americans Are Givers

By Amy Grant and Vince Gill

Amy: I have a friend who lives a simple life. She worked at a dress store. Every year she would give to my charity her bonus check of $10,000 and say, “I feel like you’re more in touch with the needs of everyday people.” One year a friend called from the emergency room. A little girl didn’t have a coat. That’s just one small example of where some of her money went. My friend loved the experience of helping people. She said, “This is so much fun!” When you decide to give, you look at the world differently.

Vince: We get to feel better about ourselves through philanthropy. That is, to some degree, the point of all of this. We live in a world where it’s easy to beat yourself up, but it feels better when you chip in. Like Christmas. When you’re giving gifts to your family, you want yours to be the one that they like the best. —A.N.

Amy Grant, 61, and husband Vince Gill, 65, are active philanthropists in Nashville. She oversees the Helping Hands Foundation, and for 27 years, he sponsored the Vinny Pro-Celebrity Golf Invitational.

Dreaming Is Encouraged

By Rodney Crowell

I guess for some folks, the American dream is becoming rich and famous. For me, it was finding something I loved and could make a living from at the same time. Then, when I witnessed the screaming at four Brits on The Ed Sullivan Show, it registered with me that playing guitar and singing in a band was how you got a girl.

My first teen rock ’n’ roll band wasn’t very good. Nor was its name, the Rolling Tones. Nearly three decades later, I met Claudia, who became my wife, on the set of a video for my song “Lovin’ All Night.” So I thank the Rolling Tones; because of that band, I chased my dream.

Rodney Crowell, 71, released the album Triage in 2021.

We Have Pride in Community

By Kane Brown

I’ve gotten to tour all over the U.S. and internationally. There are so many communities across the U.S. that, while people might not have the town name memorized on a map, have been some of my favorite places to visit. They have a pride of home and sense of community and helping and looking out for each other.

I have a song called “Famous Friends” with Chris Young that talks about this. All these people you grow up with that are staples in your life — and famous to you day to day. I thought about this a lot this year with all of the local heroes and frontline workers who went to work every day in their hometowns, too. —A.N.

Kane Brown, 28, was the first artist to top all five of Billboard’s main country charts at the same time.

Real Connections Fuel Us

By Zac Brown

People have become disconnected from nature; an iPad is the standard babysitter for kids. But we’re supposed to be scratched up from briars and getting our knees dirty. At my Camp Southern Ground, we take the devices away. We put people out in nature. There is so much power in putting people in a situation where they have to rely on each other. —A.N.

Zac Brown, 43, helped found a Georgia camp that serves young people and veterans. The Zac Brown Band is currently on tour.

We Are Pro-Wholesome

By Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys are very pro-America and pro-God. We don’t sing drinking or cheating songs. We’re not good at it. There are enough people who do those. —As told to Jeffrey Lee Puckett

The Oak Ridge Boys’ latest album is Front Porch Singin’. Bonsall is 74.

We Can Show Our Pride

By Lee Greenwood

In 1983, I finally wrote the song that I wanted to write. I put down my feelings, my emotions, my beliefs — that I understand why America is a free country and how we should appreciate it. From that moment on, “God Bless the U.S.A.” became more than just my original piece of music. World events, international crises, Hurricane Katrina and the attack on America in 2001 have made it something more. Event after event brought “God Bless the U.S.A.” and its refrain, “And I’m proud to be an American / Where at least I know I’m free,” to the forefront and pushed me into a leading role to be America’s patriot. I thought it was important that a farm boy from California could be a patriot. —A.N.

Lee Greenwood, 78, is on his “40 Years of Hits” tour through the fall.