Thomas Rhett’s latest project, Country Again: Side A is by far the most traditional sounding country music he’s made in several years, and it’s a reflection of the journey he’s been on over the last couple of years, getting back to his country roots and rediscovering his passion for the great outdoors with his family. Thomas says that process of rediscovering his roots has been a blast. “It doesn’t feel like that long ago, yet at the same time it feels like a century ago, that I was in college just trying to figure it out – studying old Eric Church songs and studying classic country songs that I loved, and tryin’ to put my own spin on ‘em. And through this decade I’ve gone down a lot of different paths, from song style to the way that I dress to the way that I talk to the people that I hang out with.”
While his journey back to his roots started before the pandemic, the last year and a half definitely accelerated the process and gave Thomas the time he needed to really enjoy some of the things he’d been missing. “I feel like in the past couple years, I’ve really just kind of become so much more centered as a person,” he says, “and the most centered version of myself is somebody that loves to be outside, loves to go fishin’, loves to just sit by a fire on a back porch. And those things, I think I took ‘em for granted so much that I kinda wanted to just go in a whole opposite direction. It just felt right. I don’t know any other way to explain that, except for the fact that it felt right.”
The fans have fully embraced Thomas’ return to his lifestyle and musical roots, by taking “What’s Your Country Song,” the first song he released off his latest project, to #1, and moving his current single, “Country Again,” up the charts and into the top ten fairly quickly.
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“It’s been a blast. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, yet at the same time it feels like a century ago that I felt But I feel like I was in collegelike I was in college just trying to figure it out – studying old Eric Church songs and studying classic country songs that I loved, and tryin’ to put my own spin on ‘em. And through this decade I’ve gone down a lot of different paths, from song style to the way that I dress to the way that I talk to the people that I hang out with. I feel like in the past couple years, I’ve really just kind of become so much more centered as a person, and the most centered version of myself is somebody that loves to be outside, loves to go fishin’, loves to just sit by a fire on a back porch. And those things, I think I took ‘em for granted so much that I kinda wanted to just go in a whole opposite direction. It just felt right. I don’t know any other way to explain that, except for the fact that it felt right.”