Photo by Nick Rau.
Thomas Rhett is taking it back to his roots with his latest project, Country Again: Side A, the first half of a two-part release (with a second volume to come later this year).
After cultivating his signature country-meets-pop/rock sound over four albums—including sixteen Multiplatinum and Gold-certified number one singles, ten billion streams, numerous awards and nominations—the singer felt like it was time to revisit the purist philosophy that made him fall in love with country music to begin with. Co-written entirely by Rhett, the introspective feel of Country Again: Side A is a culmination of a decade’s worth of life experience, along with the challenges brought by 2020 and the resulting time to reflect and reset. With this album Thomas Rhett embraces the sounds, stories and methods that drew him to country music in a way that could only come to fruition through life’s changes —including marriage, fatherhood and massive success.
“This album honestly feels a lot like coming home for me,” says the Georgia native. “I’ve been on an indescribable journey the past decade experiencing so many new things and figuring out so much about myself as an artist but even more as a person. This music brings me back full circle to the things I probably wanted to say and sing when I first started writing songs and just now have the experiences at thirty-one to share them in a real way. It’s a full 360.”
As much as his signature, more danceable sound speaks to Rhett’s rebellious side, returning to his passion for the emotion and soul behind country music was at the core of sharing the stories from this chapter of his life. The transition was as natural as it was gratifying. “I can’t say I’m surprised by the record because in some ways, the biggest parts started to take shape around mid-2019. We wrote both the lead single and title track while I was still on the road and I just started to feel this pull in my heart of my energy shifting. The thing that surprised me most in terms of the new music, is just how peaceful I feel about the process and how proud and excited I am to get it out there.”
And though the project was born out of an earnest love of songwriting and storytelling, the album’s title (and title track) actually started out as a joke. “I walked into a meet-and-greet wearing cowboy boots for the first time since 2012. Everybody on my team looked at me like, ‘Where are your sneakers?’ But it felt good to slip them back on. It felt simple and right,” he says. “Out of that story, we wrote ‘Country Again.’ I said, ‘OK, I think we found the theme of what the record’s going to be.’”
That country music-loving through line carries across the instrumentation on the album—fiddle and pedal steel—to the lyrics of the songs, all of which were co-written by Thomas Rhett.
On the tear-jerking “Heaven Right Now,” the singer pays tribute to a lost friend. “When the whole crew gets together / memory lane goes on forever / we twist the top and pour a little Jack D out / I wonder what you’re doing in heaven right now,” he sings on the track, which he notes is “the first time I have ever written directly about loss.”
The father of three young daughters (with wife Lauren) gives their future suitors a talking-to on “To the Guys That Date My Girls.” “When you take their hand remember you’re holding my whole world / just a friendly reminder to the guys that date my girls,” he sings. “It’s me contemplating my daughters growing up and going on dates—all of these things resonate with me, probably because they exemplify who I am right now and where I am in my life,” he says. “I couldn’t have written these songs five years ago.”
As Thomas Rhett continues to find himself—both in his life and in his music—fans are able to follow along on his sonic journey and will certainly see pieces of themselves in his lyrics. This most recent era is his most evolved and relatable yet. “I’ve had several ‘light bulb’ moments over the past two years making this record. More than anything, I’ve learned to prioritize what’s important in life,” he says. “My relationships are in the best place they’ve ever been. That alone gives me the perspective to be a better man and ultimately influenced my songwriting and bigger picture as an artist.”