CURRENT SINGLE: “Slow Down Summer”
Thomas Rhett is nominated for Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Country Again: Side A at next week’s ACM Awards, but it’s not a huge deal in his household. Of course he and his wife Lauren are excited, but when it comes to his four daughters, 2-year-old Lennon and 3-month-old Lillie are entirely too young to understand what awards are. And according to Thomas, when it comes to Ada James who’s 4 ½, and Willa who’s six, and what they know about his awards and nominations, he says, “I don’t think they know and I don’t think they care, and I think that’s my favorite part.”
To them he’s not ACM Award-nominated country music superstar Thomas Rhett, he’s just daddy. And he says, “They take so much pressure off of me so often. I just love the fact that to them, dad just plays guitar every now and then. It’s a very grounding experience and I’m so grateful for it.”
Thomas is also blessed to have the perspective of his children who aren’t nearly as hard on him as he is on himself. “I don’t know,” he says, “there’s something about the innocence of the way that I could come off stage and just kinda be like, ‘Man, that wasn’t my best show.’ And they’re like, ‘Daddy, we thought it was awesome, especially the fire part.’ That’s what they notice and that’s what they see, and they kinda help me see the world through a kid’s eyes as well. And I think that’s really important to keep, especially as you continue to grow in a career like this.”
While Thomas’ wife, Lauren, will probably help his daughters congratulate their daddy if he wins, he’s perfectly content with them not really knowing what it means. And we’re not sure if any of Thomas’ kids will be awake late enough to see him perform on the ACM Awards or see if he wins, but you can watch the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards, this Monday, March 7th, live from Las Vegas at 8pm ET/7pm CT on Amazon Prime Video.
BONUS BITE:
THOMAS RHETT TALKS ABOUT HIS ALBUM, COUNTRY AGAIN: SIDE A, WHICH IS NOMINATED FOR ACM ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
“To me, Country Again: Side A is definitely an accumulation of stuff that I’ve learned over the last 10 years. I think it was stuff that I was trying to say at 19, but I didn’t have the life experience to really get there yet. But now as a 30-year-old who has been on the road for 10 years now, I think you just start to do a deep dive into your heart and your soul and figure out who am I today at 30. And these songs are somewhat of an accumulation of the lessons I’ve learned, mostly the hard way, and getting back to that root of just kind of simplicity, I think, is what this record is about. And that root of simplicity kinda turned into the music aspect of this record as well.”
Thomas Rhett – kids awards :29
“I don’t think they know and I don’t think they care, and I think that’s my favorite part. They take so much pressure off of me so often. I just love the fact that to them, dad just plays guitar every now and then. It’s a very grounding experience and I’m so grateful for it. I don’t know, there’s something about the innocence of the way that I could come off stage and just kinda be like, ‘Man, that wasn’t my best show.’ And they’re like, ‘Daddy, we thought it was awesome, especially the fire part.’ That’s what they notice and that’s what they see, and they kinda help me see the world through a kid’s eyes as well. And I think that’s really important to keep, especially as you continue to grow in a career like this.”
Thomas Rhett – Country Again album title :31
“To me, Country Again: Side A is definitely an accumulation of stuff that I’ve learned over the last 10 years. I think it was stuff that I was trying to say at 19, but I didn’t have the life experience to really get there yet. But now as a 30-year-old who has been on the road for 10 years now, I think you just start to do a deep dive into your heart and your soul and figure out who am I today at 30. And these songs are somewhat of an accumulation of the lessons I’ve learned, mostly the hard way, and getting back to that root of just kind of simplicity, I think, is what this record is about. And that root of simplicity kinda turned into the music aspect of this record as well.”