Father’s Day is upon us and sons and daughters everywhere are reflecting on what makes theirs so special.
Take Thomas Rhett, for example. His dad is Rhett Akins, who enjoyed country music stardom of his own in the 1990s, an experience that’s proving pretty useful today. Thomas’ live show is one area where dear ol’ dad makes all the difference. “Dad has always just been like such a constant when it comes to me and my live show,” Thomas says through his record label. “A lot of that comes from me just growing up watching him play so many shows as an artist. But he is the sole reason on a lot of shows where I have not completely had a panic attack. 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.'”
The same can be said when it comes to the business side of Thomas’ career, even in the writing room. “He’s always been that calming presence and always been the guy that says, ‘Why don’t you try swappin’ these two songs and see what happens,’ or ‘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.’ So [he’s] always an encouragement and somebody [who can] come in and be like, ‘It’s gonna be fine.”
Thomas just wrapped the 2017 CMA Music Festival in Nashville, which will air on ABC August 16th with him and Kelsea Ballerni as hosts. Catch Thomas on the road in the coming weeks in California, Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. In the meantime, check out his dad’s 1995 video for “That Ain’t My Truck.” And don’t forget that Sunday (6/18) is Father’s Day.
Teddy McDonald is a fun-lovin’ country music fan man living in Nashville, Tennessee.
