Thomas Rhettâs album Country Again â Side A is available now!
Country Again is the result of the last 10 years of Thomasâ life, but more specifically, the last 15 months. It was the quarantine and time off from his usual hectic schedule that allowed all this music to be created.
Thomas says, âA lot of this record started getting written once I started to slow down. You know, I actually had time to be creative again, and I had time to be inspired and had to think about the last couple of years, and the last 10 years of my life, and all the lessons I learned from that. So, when I say this is the record I wish I could have written at 19, well thereâs no way I could have. I didnât have this kind of material to talk about. I didnât have the struggle and the awesomeness of being a dad, or the struggle and awesomeness of marriedâŠyou know, it was just me. So, I think looking back on these last 10 years, and looking at all the ways that Iâve grown and all the inspiration thatâs come from being a dad and being a husband really translated into what this record is today and just something Iâm proud of.â
Along with having two songs on the album with the word âcountryâ in their title, as well as the projectâs name too â âcountryâ is a major theme throughout many of the tracks.
Thomas Rhett explains what âcountryâ means to him, âI think the word âcountryâ is a pretty strong synonym. I think it means a multitude of things. Just like any other word in the world, it could be construed for good, or construed for bad, you know. I think âcountryâ for a lot of people means boots and fiddle and steel guitar and being in the woods, and I think those things are definitely one meaning, but for me, even in the song âCountry Againâ it is about that stuff, but itâs more about just a simple way of life, and a lifestyle where you donât need much to make you happy, and on a musical front the word âcountryâ to me, means an honest story.â
Telling that honest story all comes down to the songwriting. While he had a hand in writing all the songs on this project, Thomas is quick to tell you that he didnât do it alone, âNone of these songs would have happened if it was just me in a room. Iâve tried to write millions of songs by myself and I always stop at the chorus cause I canât everâŠI donât trust myselfâŠyou know, I donât trust myself to write a second verse, so all the cowriters on this record made this record what it is.â
COUNTRY AGAIN â SIDE A TRACK LIST:
1. âWant It Againâ | Thomas Rhett, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Miller, Josh Thompson
2. âGrowing Upâ | Thomas Rhett, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Miller, Josh Thompson
3. âWhatâs Your Country Songâ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Parker Welling
4. âWhere We Grew Upâ* | Thomas Rhett, Luke Laird, Josh Miller
5. âHeaven Right Nowâ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson, Laura Veltz
6. âTo The Guys That Date My Girlsâ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Will Bundy, Josh Thompson
7. âMore Time Fishinââ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Will Bundy, Josh Thompson
8. âCountry Againâ | Thomas Rhett, Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley
9. âPut It On Ice (featuring Hardy)â+ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Thompson
10. âBlame It On A Backroadâ | Thomas Rhett, Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley
11. âYa Heardâ | Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Matt Dragstrem, Chase McGill
The project is title Country Again â Side A because this is the first group of songs that Thomas is putting out. Originally he had close to 30 tracks ready to releaseâŠuntil he had a conversation with his younger brother, âI thank my 15-year-old brother for this split of this album becauseâŠheâs 15, and heâs super hip and heâs on the Tik Tok trend and all that kind of stuff, and I asked him, âIf I were to put out a record that had 26 songs on it, do you feel like thatâs something you could listen to?â And he said âAbsolutely notâ (laugh), and I said âHow far would you get before you just switched it to something else?â And he said âMaybeâŠmaybe 8 songs.â And I was like, âOK, thatâs good intel.â
At first Thomas was thinking of his own personal preference when it came to getting new music from his favorite artists â like the recent triple album, Heart & Soul from Eric Church, âYou know, if I love an artistâŠthe more the better for me. You know what Iâm saying, like, the fact Eric Church is releasing a triple album is like Christmas to me. I get to live with 3 and half hours of brand new Eric Church musicâŠbut Iâm also 30-years-old and I have time to sit and actually do that.â
But the more he thought about it, and following the advice of his brother, Thomas Rhett started to think that splitting up the Country Again album into 2 parts was the best thing for the music, âYou know I think a lot of times, songs can get really left behind when thereâs too many of them at the same time, you know especially in the way that theyâre sequenced. If I were to put 26 songs on the same record and I save my favorite one for number 26, how many people are actually going to get there?â
He adds, âSo, I wanted to do a double album because I had too much music that I loved, and I wasnât ready to part ways with. But thatâs the reason I split it upâŠitâs so people can have a lot of time to digest these 11, and then when Side B comes out, they have time to digest those 12 to 15 songsâŠand then they can listen to it as a full project and understand why all these songs were recorded in the first place. So, if they were to listen to 26 songs straight down theyâd probably just pick their favorite 4 and listen to those on repeatâŠrather than getting 11 and 12 to 15, they get to actually soak it in, and actually recognize each song for what it is.â
Thomas shares what the album Country Again â Side A means to him, âIâve never been more excited about a release of an album than I am now, and I would attribute that to Iâm just excited to be living for today, you know rather than thinking about what Iâm doing in 10 years. So, in many ways thatâs probably one of the biggest lessons I learned over the last 15 months. It allowed me to be able to write songs like âCountry Againâ â you know that song would have never being written in this kind of fashion, had I not lived the last 15 months the way that I had. And also to be able to reflect on my last 10 years and go âDang, I was living OK, but Iâm not sure I was living to my fullest. You know, like I am today.â Which is exciting to say.â
Photos Courtesy of Valory Music Co