Thomas Rhett Celebrates 2nd #1

You know an artist is busy when it takes 6 months for him to celebrate a #1 song.  But in Thomas Rhett’s case, it wasn’t only HIS schedule that was filled.  Sometimes it takes a lot of people to make a #1 song, and some of them are also on the road a lot.  The #1 we’re talking about is “Get Me Some of That,” written by Cole Swindell, Cole’s producer and Luke Bryan’s guitar player Michael Carter, and Thomas Rhett’s father Rhett Akins.  Thomas has been on tour this summer with Miranda Lambert & Brantley Gilbert.  Cole & Michael have been a part of Luke Bryan’s tour.  So this was the first chance all three were in Nashville at the same time.  We spoke with Thomas Rhett about his second #1:

So let’s talk about your second #1, written by your dad: Yeah he did, and it’s the second one in a row.  This one’s special for a lot of reasons, not only my dad is a writer, but a good friend Cole Swindell was a writer, I’m buddies with Michael Carter, and Luke Bryan was a publisher on this song, so it’s cool for me cause it’s two in a row, back to back #1s, never in a million years did I dream that would happen for me.  It’s just a special day, any day you get to celebrate a #1 is a good fun day.  I’m pumped to see a bunch of friends and family here to celebrate the same thing.

So when your father writes a song, how does it get to you? The first time I heard this song, I was playing at the Opry, and I got it in my inbox, and I listened to it the whole way home.  I texted dad that I wanted to record it.  I knew it was going to be a hit, and that’s what it is.  I got to bypass the system, it was an email attachment.

Has your dad pitched you a song you didn’t like? Oh sure! Tons of them.  He’s never sent me a bad song.  It’s either it’s for me or for someone else.  He doesn’t write a bad song.  Some are more me than others.  We’ve written so many songs together, we have an open relationship about songs.

Are there songs that you heard first, and became hits for someone else? Yes, I’ll never forget it.  It was a couple Christmases ago, I heard a song called ‘Runnin’ Outta Moonlight,’ the writer sent it to me with a note that said ‘Merry Christmas.’  I didn’t cut it, and it ended up being a #1 for Randy Houser.  That happens all the time.  There were a couple songs my dad wrote, like ‘Boys Round Here’ and ‘Honey Bee’ that I really wanted, and they both ended up being hits for Blake Shelton.  It all works out in the end.   My dad & I wrote Parking Lot Party together, and that became a hit for Lee Brice and that was our first success together.

Obviously growing up with your dad, he was an influence on your career.  But who else influenced you? Eric Church was the biggest reason I wanted to write songs, so he was a huge inspiration on my songwriting and my show.  Watching somebody do the bad ass thing, and I’m not as much of a bad ass as he is, and believe me, I’ve tried.  I’ve also seen the Rolling Stones a lot so they were an influence.  But I also saw my dad a lot, and so that’s where a lot of my stuff comes from.

Talk about your CMA New Artist nomination, where were you when you got the news?  I was in Canada, and didn’t have any cell service.  I didn’t have internet.  So I called my manager from my hotel room, she put the phone up to the TV, and we listened live together.  They did it in alphabetical order, my name starts with a “T” and my name was at the end, but they called my name, and to be in that category with your friends is a good competitive thing.  So it’ll be fun to be there that night, and I’m just gonna soak it in.

Other nominees are Brandy Clark, Brett Eldredge, Kip Moore, and Cole Swindell.  Is it a coincidence that all five of you are songwriters?  I don’t think so.  I think in the last 5 years, there have been a lot of singer/songwriters, and one of the reasons is we started as writers.  We’re writers first.  I had no business playing shows, but I knew how to write.  Once other people started recording my songs, I felt I wanted to give it a shot.  Cole is one of the most talented songwriters I know, and he also does a great show.  It’s funny that I’ve written with Cole, he’s written this song for me, and he’s also written for Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan.  So it’s this huge interwoven songwriter artist buddy thing.

Since Cole Swindell was also at the party, we spoke with him about his role in this song, and his CMA New Artist nomination:

So you grew up in South Georgia, not far from where Rhett Akins is from, so how big was it to write a song with Rhett? It was big!  This song is one of my favorite stories, an only in Nashville moment.  Growing up in Georgia, I knew Rhett’s songs, I came to Nashville as a fan, this was our first song we wrote together, and here I am writing a song with one of the guys I looked up to, and his son records it and it goes to #1.  If that’s not full circle, I don’t know what is.

You’re also nominated for CMA New Artist: Everybody in this category is amazing, and I’m just proud to be nominated.  There are so many who could have been nominated.  I’m proud to be recognized, and it seems like we’re all friends.

You’re part of Luke Bryan’s Farm Tour that starts this week.  Have you ever written a song during the Farm Tour? Yes, we wrote Luke’s current hit Roller Coaster during the Farm Tour two years ago.  In Valdosta Georgia!  I told Luke the idea for Roller Coaster, and he didn’t understand the idea.  So I went off and wrote it, and it’s in the Top 5 right now.

Just a couple weeks ago, you got to do a concert at Turner Field in Atlanta.  What was that like?  I grew up a huge Braves fan, I watched them with my dad, and getting to play Turner Field is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.  They’re about to move stadiums, and to say you played there, a lot of great things have happened to them there, so it’s cool for me to be on the field.  I’ve never been on the field before.  I dreamed on playing on that field as a kid, not as a country music artist.  So it was cool.  It was a rough year for the Braves, but I’m still a fan.

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