In a country music world where most of the sounds are starting to lean more toward pop, Charlie Robison follows a different path than his wife Emily of the Dixie Chicks.

Robison says his songwriting stems from day-to-day life, whether on the road out in the country or just watching people.

“It has got to be painting a picture, rather than writing a song,” Robison says. “I start with a location, rather than words, and the idea presents itself from there.”

Robison uses locations such as restaurants, or he checks out passersby on the street.

“It is more interesting than just writing around a hook line, or a few words,” he said. “I just don’t enjoy that as much.”

The writing process for “Step Right Up,” Robison’s latest album, differs greatly from his previous ones. And some of that can be attributed to his wife. Two years ago Robison married Dixie Chick Emily Erwin.

“It has given me a lot more time to think,” Robison says. “A guy’s mind is not polluted with issues dealing with women and dating. Your brain is freed up to think about a lot more issues.”

He also feels he has matured a little bit and he tries to make every new album a little bit better than the previous.

“The songs on this album are a little bit more introspective. Some are more about me, rather than [specifically] writing about outside things,” he says.

Issues Robison tackles in “Step Right Up” range from relationships and life changes to kids. Many of the songs’ themes come from past experiences and things that have confused him growing up, such as religion, he says.

“Religion and how people deal with it can be rather confusing,” he says. “Writing is an outlet for me, kind of cathartic and therapeutic.”

Although some of the topics Robison writes about can be controversial, he says that society can be too overly politically correct. Robison says there is nothing he hates more than people who take themselves and issues too seriously.

“[Lyrics] should be something that provoke thought, or inspire conversation,” he says. “Real life is just a song to be written.”