CMAAs one of country’s hottest rising stars, Thomas Rhett has started to play his own headlining shows here and there. He’s spent most of this year on the road opening for his pals Florida Georgia Line, and Thomas sees advantages to both approaches to touring at this point in his career.
“They’re just different,” Thomas explains. “You know, when we do our own shows, we play longer. You don’t really have to start at a certain amount of time, and you don’t have to really end at a certain amount of time. So, I would say, when you do your own shows, there’s a lot more freedom.”
On the other hand, Thomas enjoys the comradery of hanging out with his pals FGL when they’re on the road together. He also admires the way the duo runs their touring operation.
Says Thomas, “They treat everybody the same whether you’re crew or whether you’re an opening act. Everyone gets treated the same. Those two guys have become my best friends, so there’s really no way that I couldn’t have a blast touring with two of my best buddies out on the road.”
In the next few years, Thomas hopes to be headlining full-time now that he’s got a taste of playing sold-out shows of his own.
He says, “It is a lot of fun going and knowing that when you do sell out a place, you know that your name sold it out. And you weren’t just a part of selling it out. Like, you were the reason a lot of people came.”
After his stint with FGL is finished, Thomas is hitting the road with Brett Eldredge this fall. Look for Thomas’s new album, Tangled Up, to come out September 25.
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