Thomas Rhett is trading in his headliner status to serve as the opening act on Kenny Chesney‘s Trip Around the Sun Tour, where Rhett is learning how to treat those he takes on the road with him.
“He sets up this gigantic space next to his bus where he has a tiki bar and food trucks and music playing,” Rhett shares. “And literally before the show and after the show, I could’ve walked up to Kenny and said, ‘Hey dude I have 30 family members here. Is that cool?’ He’d be like, ‘Yeah! Come on!’ He kind of treats everybody like you’re their family and I think that’s what creates such a unique and fun atmosphere with Kenny backstage.
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“And that’s why so many people want to tour with him, just from the camaraderie that you get from that tour,” continuse Rhett. “And then, you also get to watch somebody play two hours of nothing but the most gigantic songs in the history of country music.”
The 28-year-old knew early on he wanted to join Chesney on the road, and feels grateful for the chance to see that dream come to life.
“Being on a Kenny Chesney tour, I think is a dream that I’ve had since I was 19 years old,” Rhett acknowledges. “[Jason] Aldean’s done it, Eric Church has done it, Miranda [Lambert] has done it. Anybody who is somebody has done that tour and there’s a reason for that and it’s because Kenny has perfected the art of learning how to entertain 70,000 people for two hours.”
Rhett opened for Chesney last year for his two shows at the famed Gillette Stadium, where Rhett took plenty of notes from one of the biggest hitmakers in country music.
“I feel like I got to learn so much even in just those two days of watching how Kenny connects to the person in the front row, and the person in the nose bleeds,” Rhett says. “That’s a very hard thing to do, and so I’m anxious to get out there and obviously do our set, but then just learn so much from Kenny. I think that’s every artist’s dream is to one day headline stadiums.”
Rhett will return to his own Life Changes Tour after Chesney wraps his Trip Around the Sun trek. A list of all of Rhett’s upcoming shows can be found on his website.
Photo Credit: Instagram/thomasrhettakins
