Before his ACM Awards performance, Thomas Rhett is revealing the inspiration of his song “Country Again.” During an interview with iHeart Radio, Rhett got candid about how a simple moment in his life contributed to a significant juncture in his professional career.
“Country Again” is Rhett’s realization that you can sing about being country, but it doesn’t mean much if you aren’t living it. For Rhett, he had to learn that lesson the hard way.
“I quit hunting with my daddy
Guess I didn’t make the time
And it’s been a year since I’ve seen a deer
Had a smallmouth on the line
The other day I hooked a monster
And as I reeled him in
I thought man it feels good to be country again”
Thomas Rhetts’ Rediscovery Presents Itself on ‘Country Again’
According to Rhett, the single is “just about slowing down and rediscovering what’s important in your life.”
The past year presented him with little moments that gave him a new perspective.
“Willa Gray and Ada wanted to fish with me. And so I rigged them up some little Zipcar reels. Even though we didn’t catch any fish, I remember watching them and being like, man, this is what life’s about. And this is my priority right here is to be the best dad that I can be, in soaking in these moments.”
Rhett continued by adding: “That’s kind of what prompted this whole idea around ‘Country Again.’ And then it kinda turned into that song, obviously. But, then it kind of turned into kind of the centerpiece for this whole entire project.”
He also dove into the details behind the project. “I think for the last five or six years, I’ve been running at such a fast pace, kind of just saying yes to everything and everybody, and not really ever having a lot of time to just kind of slow down for myself and for my wife and for my kids. And, I would say somewhere around mid 2019, it just kinda hit me in the face of like, man, when you’re kind of forced to not be able to work and not be able to tour, you actually have to sit with yourself and be okay with who you are, cause that’s who you get to be with — you and your wife and your kids.”
Rhett on Learning to Slow Down
“And, I think this transformation that was started happening in me in 2019 really came to fruition in 2020. And that kind of new discovery of self, just new discovery of learning how to sit, learning how to be content, learning how to not grind so hard all the time, it turned into this whole thought of this ‘Country Again’ concept, and it was a really neat self-reflecting time for me that it made its way into song, and then made its way onto this album.”
Thomas Rhett will release the first part of his double album, Country Again (Side A) on Apr. 30. The record follows 2019’s Center Point Road and includes his previously-released songs such as “Growing Up” and “Want It Again.”
