Thomas Rhett on 'Where We Started'

Superstar Thomas Rhett has had a very busy 2022 so far. Along with announcing his upcoming 'Bring The Bar To You Tour,' Rhett released his latest studio album Where We Started on Friday, April 1st. Prior to the album’s release, the proud dad of four sat down for an interview to discuss all of the latest news and projects.

After releasing Country Again: Side A in 2021, putting out Where We Started, and hinting that Country Again: Side B could be out later this year, Rhett spoke about the amount of creativity he's rediscovered within the last couple of years. “Maybe it was becoming a dad and starting to realize the impact my kids were having on my creativity. You sit down with kids for 20 minutes and they find new ways to have fun,” he shares.

He also opened up about suffering from writer’s block prior to the pandemic, vulnerably stating, “Mid 2019 I felt like I had nothing left to say. I took six or eight months off of writing because how else can you say 'I love you?' How else can you talk about heartbreak?” Being forced to stay inside helped Rhett turn inwards and unlock a fresh, new approach to his songwriting.

Rhett also jokingly admitted that his spouse, Lauren, was not aware that he had an album coming out. “My wife didn’t even know we had an album coming out so how would the rest of the world know? We had to get creative with that promotion process,” he says. One of the promotions included a comedic video filmed with musician Josh Gilligan. He went on to share some more updates about his family, who his fans have always kept an interested eye on. Films like Sing 2 and Encanto have become favorites of his four daughters, while he and Lauren are "die-hard” fans of Yellowstone. When asked if his music has been affected by what his kids listen to Rhett responds, “ I just try to make my kids smile. Hopefully sometimes my music gets to do that for them.”

The singer-songwriter shared the stories for how a few songs on the album came to be. “Bring The Bar” had Rhett’s dad Rhett Akins as a co-writer, and it happened to be written on the same day as the hit “What’s Your Country Song.” The song was definitely inspired by not being able to go out to bars for some time.

Perhaps the most heartwarming story was how “Mama’s Front Door” originated. “I was dropping Lennon off at my wife’s moms house. Something struck me about watching Lennon walk through that door. I’ve stood at this front door under many circumstances. I’ve been a friend, a boyfriend, and ex-boyfriend, a fiancé, a husband, and now a dad and now I’m watching my daughter walk through.”

Rhett is extremely excited to be going out on the road this year with his 'Bring The Bar To You Tour.' Reigning ACM New Male Artist of the Year Parker McCollum and rising star Conner Smith are set to join Rhett as opening acts. Rhett has gotten to know McCollum through his dad as Akins has been writing with McCollum for a few years now. “I’ve gotten to know Parker pretty well now. I love his music, I love his style, and I love the bits of Texas country he’s gonna bring to this tour,” he tells The Nash News. He continues on about Smith, a fellow Valory-signed artist, “Conner in a way feels like my little brother. I’ve loved getting to help coach Conner, listen to his songs, write songs, and he’s turned into a heck of a performer.”

Make sure to grab tickets to see this trio while they are still available. The 'Bring The Bar To You Tour' starts this June.

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