Thomas Rhett puts on a great live show and he says his performances have been influenced by watching and learning from a lot of great performers, including Eric Church, The Rolling Stone and his dad, Rhett Akins. “Eric Church is one the biggest reasons I ever wanted to write songs, so he was a huge inspiration to my songwriting and in my performance. Watchin’ somebody get up there and do the kinda bad-ass thing, and I’m not near as much of a bad-ass as Eric Church, but I’ve tried in the past, trust me.”
Watching a legendary group like The Rolling Stones has also pushed Thomas to up his stage game because he says, “When you watch Mick Jagger or somebody who’s almost 70-years-old move around the stage as good as he does, it makes you wanna move twice as hard. So, The Stones have been a big influence on me.”
Thomas says the key for him has been watching other performers’ live shows and being influenced by them but not imitating them. “A lot of it’s just practice and tryin’ to do things that other artists do and noticin’ that you can’t do it as well and then you kinda take that from them and make it your own,” he says, “and a couple years later you kinda have your own show with your own moves and your own things that you do that nobody else does. So, it’s just kind of a big growin’ process.”
You can see some of Thomas’ moves in the video for his latest single, “Make Me Wanna.”
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Thomas Rhett – who influence live shows 1:04
“As far as my road show, I’ve had to go to a lot of different concerts. Obviously I’ve seen more country concerts than anything, ‘cause that’s what I do, that’s what I’m around all the time. Eric Church is one the biggest reasons I ever wanted to write songs. So he was a huge inspiration to my song-writing and in my performing. Watchin’ somebody get up there and do the kinda, the bad-ass thing, and I’m near as much of a bad-ass as Eric Church, but I’ve tried in the past, trust me. But he’s been a big influence in my live show and my song-writing. I saw the Rolling Stones a bunch growin’ up as a kid, when you watch Mick Jagger or somebody who’s almost 70-years-old move around the stage as good as he does, it makes you wanna move twice as hard. So, The Stones have been a big influence on me. I watched my dad growin’ up, entertain for a long time, so I’d say that’s where a lot of it came from, but it kinda stems from all over the place. A lot of it’s just practicin’ and tryin’ to do things that other artists do and noticin’ that you can’t do it as well and then you kinda take that from them and make it your own and a couple years later you kinda have your own show with your own moves and your own things that you do that nobody else does. So, it’s just kind of a big growin’ process.”
WHAT HE’S DOING THIS WEEK – JANUARY 5, 2015 – MONDAY
Thomas Rhett enjoyed a long Christmas vacation and even bumped into fellow label mate and buddy Justin Moore while vacationing in Hawaii. This weekend, Rhett is back on the road with a date playing at the Dallas Convention Center Arena for the CMT Ultimate Kickoff Party Live From the College Football Playoff National Championship on Friday (1/9/15).
THOMAS RHETT – THE FACTS
BIRTH DATE: March 30, 1990 – (He’s 24)
HOMETOWN: Valdosta, Georgia
WIFE: Lauren – His school sweetheart. They were married in October 2012.
DEBUT SINGLE: “Something To Do With My Hands”
DEBUT AND CURRENT ALBUM: It Goes Like This – RELEASED: October 29, 2013
CURRENT SINGLE: His new single “Make Me Wanna” sits at 11 on the Mediabase country charts this week
GRAND OLE OPRY DEBUT: May 19, 2012
LATEST MUSIC VIDEO – 2014 – “Make Me Wanna”
RECENT TWEETS:
Thomas Rhett @ThomasRhett · January 2
Haven’t sat Indian style since 3rd grade…either way #sushi sounds good. And #saki
Thomas Rhett @ThomasRhett · January 2
#RIPLittleJimmyDickens – what an incredible man and talent. He will be missed.
Thomas Rhett @ThomasRhett · December 29
What are the chances @JustinColeMoore #Hawaii