Thomas Rhett’s Dad, Rhett Akins, Reveals Son Writes ‘All Day’ on the Road

Thomas Rhett’s dad, Rhett Akins, is out on the road with his son, opening for Rhett on his Very Hot Summer Tour. But that’s not all Akins does while on tour. He also spends time writing with his son, along with plenty of other writers hoping to get a cut by Rhett.

“That’s all we do,” Akins said on The Bobby Bones Show, of Rhett’s desire to write all the time. “We got writers scrambling to the bunks when T. R. walks off the bus to get 20 minutes sleep. We have a writer bus, so different writers come out every weekend. If you’re not on that bus by 9:30 in the morning, you might not be on that song that day. T.R.’s up, he’s already worked out, he’s working on a song.

“I came in late the other day and he’s like, ‘Here comes dad, just in time for the bridge,’” he added with a laugh. “He writes all day, until about sound check. He goes, does sound check, comes back to the bus to see what we got going on. And then he plays his show, and he walks off the stage after he just played in front of 25,000 people, walks back on the writer bus, and goes, ‘Dude, we gotta write two tonight.’”

Akins, who had his own string of hits as an artist in the ’90s, is proud of his son for his popularity, which extends to multiple generations.

“It’s awesome,” boasted the proud father. “T.R.’s crowd, it’s a lot of young folks, but their parents go with them. You’ll see 6-year-old girls with a T.R. shirt on them out there, sleeping on their dad’s shoulder at 10:30 or whatever. So you got the parents out there, who remember me and some of my old songs, and you got the kids out there, going, ‘Who is this dude?’ I’m like, ‘Google Thomas Rhett‘s dad.’ It’s fun, because I play a mixture of songs I had out in the ’90s, and songs that I’ve written over the last few years.”

Rhett also praised his father for joining him on his Very Hot Summer Tour, kicking off a night that also includes Russell Dickerson and Dustin Lynch.

“I give my dad’s set a 10 out of 10,” Rhett shared with PopCulture.com and other media. “And of course I’m biased, but when you get out there and watch my dad, I remember how much of a great entertainer he is. And for somebody to walk out there after not playing shows for like 15 years and do what he did in Orange Beach was pretty special. It’s like he has no fear.

“He just walks out there and he’s like, ‘Hey you all, I’m Thomas Rhett’s dad and these are songs that you hear on the radio,’” he continued. “And he just plays a Jon Pardi hit or a Dustin Lynch hit and I just love his attitude out there. It’s a really, really cool show to watch.”

Photo Credit: Getty images / Rick Diamond