Rodney Sings With His Son

When you speak with Rodney Atkins, the conversation usually turns to talking about his son Elijah.  Five years ago, Rodney’s #1 song “Watching You” was inspired by Elijah.  The song is still a high point in his show.  But Rodney told Lon Helton of Country Countdown USA that something changed when he recently performed the song in concert: “I guess it was right before school started, and Elijah was out on the road with me.  Elijah used to come out during ‘Watching You’ and wave to the audience.  When he turned around 8 or 9 years old, he became a little shy.  He didn’t come out as much, he’d sit on the side of the stage and just watch the show.  This summer was the first time he came out on stage and he actually sang the song!  It just destroyed me.  It was a very cool moment.  I asked him about it afterwards, and he said, ‘Well I just started thinking I’m not gonna be a kid forever.  If not now, when?’  He’s a deep thinker, so that was a thrill.”

LISTEN: 11-40 Rodney4

One other Elijah story from Rodney.  During the summer, Rodney was invited to attend the baseball All Star Game in Phoenix.  As usual, he brought Elijah.  It was there that Elijah got a real thrill: “He wound up getting to shag foul balls at the Home Run Derby.  He was walking on air when he got out of the place.  I was running from one end of the stadium to the other trying to take a picture.  It’s like chaos down there.  I’ll never forget, I got to one side, and I heard the people shout, ‘This kid just made an unbelievable catch!’ And it was Elijah!  I was like, ‘Yeah! That’s my boy!’  When he came walking out of there, he was walking on air.”

LISTEN: 11-40 Rodney5

By the way, Rodney’s son Elijah just celebrated his 10th birthday a few days ago.  So Happy Birthday to Elijah!

Tags: rodney

Category: Audio