Charlie Daniels has had a long and prolific career in country music. After performing as a teenager, he released his self-titled debut album in 1971 and hasn't stopped since. But while the 77-year-old has already accomplished so much in the music industry, including selling more than 20 million albums and earning dozens of awards, he insists there's still plenty more he wants to achieve.

"I’ve got a lot of music left to play," he tells Southern Maryland News. "I’ve got a lot of ideas that I would really like to record one of these days. It’s just a matter of finding the time to finish writing and bring the recording to fruition. It’s just that we stay pretty busy, but that’s the beautiful part about it -- you never get bored. You just always got something to do; you got another mountain to climb and another goal to reach."

Daniels left home when he was barely 18 to become a country music artist, and he never looked back.

"When I finally cut the apron strings in 1958 and just went off out in the world with a guitar and a dream to play music for a living, it was pretty definite that’s what I was going to do and what I wanted to do," he recalls. "I decided to quit my daytime job and go full time playing music."

He may be a seasoned pro at writing, recording and performing, but Daniels says he still has to work hard at it -- but he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Anything creative is always a challenge," he admits. "You’re always challenging yourself to be more creative. You're challenging yourself to improve the quality of your work all the time to make sure you’ve done something the very best you can ... If you take an interest in what you’re doing, and you really care about what you’re doing, not just in my profession but everybody’s profession, it is a challenge, but it’s a good challenge."

The Grand Ole Opry member might be one of the hardest-working artists in the country, but he says he knows exactly where the credit belongs.

"It is a blessing from God exactly; God gives us the deep desires of our heart," Daniels insists. He has given me so many desires of my heart, and one of the deep desires of my heart was to play music and to be a successful musician. You know, I just have been so blessed with being able to do that."

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