At age 26, Mark Wills has a well-defined sense of who he is and how he intends to conduct his life.
For example, Wills doesn't want to perform more than 120 concerts this year."You're not home enough," he explained in a phone call this week from his home in Kennesaw, near Atlanta.
"The first year, I did 200 concerts, and it was too much," he said.
Being home means being with Kelly, his wife, and Mally, his 16-month-old daughter. Parents and in-laws live nearby.
"They're my whole deal," Wills said. "It's a great job, but I'm not going to trade my job for my family. My dad was a truck driver, so I know exactly from experience what I'm talking about."
He also refuses to move to Nashville.
"This is my home," he said. "The only thing I have in Nashville is work."
To some extent, Wills has earned the right to call the shots on his career. Since 1996, when he burst onto the country charts with "Jacob's Ladder," Wills has won accolades from his peers, attracted thousands of fans and delivered No. 1 hits with "I Do (Cherish You)," "Don't Laugh at Me" and "Wish You Were Here."
On Tuesday, Mercury will release Wills' third CD, "Permanently." It is a collection of songs that reflect the singer's sensitivities and show off his vocal range.
"I try to pick good material," Wills said. "If I find something that speaks to me, I go with it."
"Back at One" is the first single from the CD, which includes "Still Waiting," a song by Harley Allen about "children of the needle, the bottle and the poor."
"Time Machine" talks about going back in time to change things. The song mentions Patsy Cline, President John Kennedy, John Lennon and Martin Luther King.
"In My Arms" is a tender love song Wills co-wrote for his daughter.
"Ultimately," Wills said, "if I can't relate to (a song), I'm not going to enjoy singing it."
Those who have seen Wills in concert know that he delivers a song with both vocal and visual emotion.
He honed his stage skills in the clubs of Atlanta before he was signed to a record deal in 1995.
It was in those Atlanta days that Daryl Mark Williams became Mark Wills.
"There was another guy in the area by the name of Williams," Wills explained. His manager shortened his name to avoid confusion and saw no reason to change it when he went national.
Trading on his new name, Wills calls his band the Nokintobob Band (get it? no-kin-to-Bob), and publishes songs under Nokintobob Music.
He is careful to pick band and crew members, insisting that they conduct themselves in a manner that doesn't reflect negatively on him.
"I think everybody in this business has an idea of what they want to do," Wills said.
However, few are as assertive as Mark Wills.
Diane Samms Rush is country music columnist for Kansas' The Wichita Eagle.