Backstage Country is getting extra star power this week, and it comes with Von Trapp vibes (sort of). Elaina Smith’s latest co-host isn’t just a chart-topping country star; he’s also part of one of country music’s talented musical families. Thomas Rhett is in the studio, and you better believe he will be talking about working with none other than his dad, Rhett Akins.
Thomas Rhett on Working with His Dad
Rhett reflected on his first number-one hit, “It Goes Like This,” written by his dad: “Thank God for my dad, because my dad wrote this song, and I'd put a couple singles out before that that did okay, but we really needed a hit song. My dad sent me this track, and we recorded it and started playing it on the road. I remember where we were. We were at this bar in Minnesota called The Cabooze, and we played it like eighth or ninth in the set. The song had been out for like maybe four weeks.”
Thomas Rhett - It Goes Like This
He chuckled, “Even if they didn't know the verse, they knew the ooze of the chorus. It's a very recognizable song when it comes on, and I just watched the whole dynamic change. Watching people sing a song back to you, and then every show you play, if you're selling 200 tickets, all of a sudden you're sellin' 700 tickets, and you're like, ‘Oh man, the power of a hit song is crazy.’ That was probably the first night that I realized, ‘Man, this might be the start of something great.’”
On Getting Nostalgic
After all these years in the industry, Rhett told Smith he can’t help but get a little nostalgic. “Maybe I've just been around long enough to kind of be in this like nostalgic phase of my career. But I look out into the shows this year and there are so many 13 to 17 year old kids that probably heard this song when they were six years old riding around with their mom and daddy in their trucks.” He laughed, “Now they're sitting there going, ‘Hey, what did music sound like in 2013?’”
He added that he believed there are a lot of young listeners starting to discover him and other country music artists, including Luke Combs, Dierks Bentley, and Jason Aldean. “It’s been really cool to bring out a bunch of first record stuff on the road this year, and ‘It Goes Like This,’ being one of those.”
Tune in to Backstage Country from August 18-22 to catch Thomas Rhett and Elaina Smith chatting about music, family, and all the behind-the-scenes moments that make songwriting a little more personal. Don’t forget to subscribe to his YouTube channel for more of his music and number one hits!
