"I turned 28 last year. As I get older, my view of music and of the world changes. My songs should reflect that maturity.
"This album is going to be a more creative adventure in musical styles than my first two albums," he continues. I'm really stretching out musically.
"Melodically, we're going to sing some tunes that are different and more challenging to country radio. Lyrically, the songs will appeal to an older audience than I've aimed for in the past."
David scored Top 10 hits with "Goodnight Sweetheart" and "Another
You." His "If I Never Stop Loving You" was the fourth most-played
song on country radio in the first six months of 1998, according to Billboard.
"The songs on my debut album, Goodnight Sweetheart, reached out lyrically to a young audience," he recalls.
"When I did my second album, If I Never Stop Loving You, I thought I was selecting songs for an age group similar to my own. As it turned out, a lot of my listeners were older than me.
"From that second album, 'If I Never Stop Loving You' and 'Wonderful Tonight' appealed to an older audience more than I thought they would. With album number three, I'm purposefully reaching out to an audience that is growing with me."
From the start, David has reached out to an audience beyond traditional country. His high-energy live shows blend the music of such high-core country greats as George Jones with rock legends AC/DC and Metallica. And he hasn't been afraid to mix musical styles on his albums.
For example, he explains, "On If I Never Stop Lovng You I included two remakes that were opposite ends of the spectrum. I went from a country classic, Faron Young's 'Hello Walls,' to a rock classic, Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight.'
"It's real important to me to give the listener variety. I don't want to be pigeon-holed as an artist who only does one type of song. Ever since I started singing, I've always enjoyed performing all kinds of music.
"I will definitely stay within the realm of country music, because it's where my heart is. To be truthful, my heart is actually wrapped around a more traditional sounding country music than I normally sing.
"The songs a majority of country music listeners are asking radio to play are, in general, not too hard-core traditional country. I've always believed it's important to give listeners what they want. In doing that, I now sing more contemporary country than traditional country."
David's new album is slated for a late summer or early fall release, which, he hopes, gives time for the release of one more single - a special single - from If I Never Stop Loving You.
" 'The Need' is a song I've wanted to be a single since the album debuted in February of last year," he admits. "The song is special to me - more so than any other tune on the album. Just like so many people, I've gone through tough family times. I saw my parents split up and my family split up. This song is for people like me who have been unwilling or scared to give up their hearts to fall in love.
"Until I was a teenager, I lived in a fantasy world. My parents worked hard at making me, my sister and my brother believe everything was wonderful. It goes back to the old saying, 'If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.'
"When I was 15, my parents divorced. It was a shock to find out everything wasn't wonderful in the family. My world came tumbling down.
"When the divorce happened, it caused me to build a wall around my emotions. I was cautious with my heart.
"All the ideals about love and marriage were blown out of the water, so I had a lot of growing up to do.
"When I heard the lyrics to 'The Need' it was an eye-opening experience. The song really talks to me and grabs my feelings. It made me see the risks I have to face if I ever want to fall in love."
David says there was no risk in being part of 1998's Reba McEntire/Brooks & Dunn mega-tour which he describes as "the best possible thing that could happen to me at that stage of my career. I did 68 dates with them and I got that major-tour experience. It was a knowledge-expanding time for me.
"I learned so much by watching Reba and Kix and Ronnie. I learned about putting on a big-audience stage show. And I learned about the behind-the-scenes business of such a tour, including things I need to be aware of when I, hopefully, move up to headlining.
"During the tour, Reba gave me the best advice: She always said, 'Take care of your fans.' And it's so obvious that she has done that throughout her career. She really thanks the fans and she really talks to the fans.
"The tour also gave me great exposure. I performed in front of thousands of people every night."
David had a mega-lesson in the power of exposure when he sang part of his debut hit single, "Goodnight Sweetheart," on a Southwest Airlines commercial.
"When people put a face with your name, that's one of the keys to success," he says.
"As a young artist, people may know and like the song you sing. But they may not know it's you who sings the song. Until they can make the connection between your face, name and song, you're only halfway there.
"I was seen by a million people in all of my 1997 shows. In just the first two airings of that commercial, more than 100 million people saw me - and immediately the sales of Goodnight Sweetheart surged upward. Isn't that amazing?"
Now David's eager to get back to live shows. "I really like summertime and the summers are our busiest times," he says. We're out there traveling around, playing a lot of festivals and fairs. The shows are laid-back and people just want to have a good time.
"I'm going to pump some new things into my show this year. I'm going to make it even more entertaining and more fun than I have in the past."
As David bounces from shows to recording-studio sessions, he has his goals clearly in sight.
"I want my career to move up to a new and higher level. I don't want to plane off. I don't want to become stagnant as a performer.
"I don't want to be an artist who hesitates to reinvent himself or adjust to country music's ever-changing conditions. I'm ready and willing to do what it takes to move my career forward.
"My primary goal for the year is to create new things. New music. New performance styles. New fans. That's incredibly important to me."
