Nashville (CNN) Undeterred by a fall Sunday morning, former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Nashville in the evening, where he spoke on stage at the iconic Ryman Auditorium alongside former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

"Well, first of all, I want to explain my black eye," Carter, who walked with a cane, said.

Carter, who turned 95 last week, held the podium as he gave brief remarks kicking off the 36th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity.

While getting ready to go to church at his home in Plains, Georgia, Sunday morning, Carter said, "I fell down and hit my forehead on a sharp edge and had to go to the hospital. And they took 14 stitches in my forehead and my eye is black, as you've noticed. But I had a number one priority and that was to come to Nashville and build houses."

The former President acknowledged that he and his wife would be having a "limited schedule" throughout the build this week.