(Photo credit: twitter.com/ThomasRhett)
With Father’s Day approaching, Thomas Rhett is giving credit where credit is due … to his dad, singer-songwriter Rhett Akins.
In the mid 90s Rhett Akins was writing songs, touring and releasing singles that climbed the country radio airplay charts like “That Ain’t My Truck,” “I Break For Brunettes,” “She Said Yes” and “Don’t Get Me Started” just to name a few.
When Thomas Rhett began following in his dad’s footsteps in country music, he had a lot of lessons learned from watching dear ole dad to rely on.
“You know dad has always just been like such a constant when it comes to me and my live show,” Thomas Rhett shares. “A lot of that comes from me just growing up watching him play so many shows as an artist.”
Thomas Rhett also gives dad props for making sure he doesn’t get too stressed out over his shows. “He is the sole reason on a lot of shows where I have not completely had a panic attack,” Thomas Rhett admits, “Like, I’ll walk off stage and know that I did not play my best show and he’s always the first one to be like, ‘Yeah, you know, a couple of things were pretty rough, but overall it was good.’ He’s always been that calming presence.”
Rhett also helps his son with advice on how to improve his shows. Thomas Rhett says his dad will say after a show, “Why don’t you try swappin’ these two songs and see what happens.”
Being a songwriter himself also gives Rhett a chance to help his son and calm his nerves when working on new projects to release. Thomas Rhett says his dad will tell him about songs, “It’s alright, we’ll write it. Don’t worry that we don’t have your first single, we will make it happen one way or the other.”
The lessons Thomas Rhett learned from Rhett Akins about doing shows have apparently paid off. Last Friday (6/9) tickets to Thomas Rhett’s headlining “Home Team Tour” at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater in September sold-out in just minutes after going on sale. That is the 18th sell-out on this tour for the reigning ACM Male Vocalist of the Year.
Thomas Rhett is taking advantage of the lessons he has learned from his dad about his career in the country music industry now. He is starting his own family and will get to celebrate his first Father’s Day as a dad himself this year. Thomas Rhett will get to continue to use lessons learned from his dad Rhett Akins in the years to come on being a good dad.
Happy Father’s Day to Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins and all of the dads out there.
By: Buck Stevens
