Rhett Akins Hints At First New Project In 20 Years – With Thomas Rhett In The Mix [Exclusive]

It’s been more than two decades since Rhett Akins officially released a record of his own, but that may be about to change.

Akins is one of modern country music’s most consistent hitmaking songwriters, with credits like “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” recorded by Luke Bryan; “Dirt On My Boots,” recorded by Jon Pardi; “Honey Bee” by Blake Shelton; and “Small Town Boy” by Dustin Lynch, along with countless other cuts recorded by a who’s who of country music.

Before becoming one of Nashville’s most in-demand writers, Akins also enjoyed a successful run as a solo artist in the 1990s, earning his first No. 1 hit with “That Ain’t My Truck.”

Throughout the past two decades, Akins has racked up numerous accolades for his songwriting, including being named BMI Songwriter of the Year multiple times and earning several CMA Triple Play Awards, which honor songwriters who chart three No. 1 singles within a 12-month span.

While the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee has spent the last several years dominating Music City behind the scenes, Akins recently revealed he’s considering releasing some of the thousands of songs he’s written that never found a home.

“It’s been over 20 years since I released anything officially, like record wise. There was no such thing as streaming back then. So I’m like the Flintstones,” he told Country Now with a laugh while backstage at the Grand Ole Opry during Conservation Aid. “I mean, I’m way, way behind on social media, putting songs out and things like that. But I have so … I bet I’ve written almost 2000 songs since I’ve been in Nashville. And there’s just a lot of ones that for whatever reason, nobody picked up or didn’t sing, but they deserve to be heard. And I got a lot of those that I want to put out.”

Akins also revealed that he and his son, Thomas Rhett, have been back in the studio together.

“Me and Thomas Rhett have been working on … Well, we’ve been working on songs since he’s five years old, but we’ve been working on some songs in the studio,” he shared. “When we can, he’s busy all the time going on tour, going to Africa for charity and stuff like that, having kids, which I think he might have his fifth kid tonight as we speak, my seventh grandchild. But yeah, we’ve written some songs this year.”

While Akins admitted he isn’t yet sure where the new songs will ultimately land, it’s clear that something is brewing, and it could involve a few familiar names.

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“I don’t know. Maybe some of mine, maybe we do something together, maybe it’s for his. I always have a song or two on his albums, but I haven’t made an album in a long time. So I think that I probably would have some guests, Luke Bryan, Riley Green, Jason Aldean, people that I kind of came up with, but having Thomas Rhett, us doing something together might be happening,” he teased. 

Despite his decades of success, Akins says the nerves that come with chasing a great song haven’t disappeared, and that’s exactly how he likes it.

“I don’t feel pressure about anything anymore. Except I will say this, as many songs as I’ve written, I don’t think there’s a day that I drive to town that I don’t get a little bit nervous. Like it’s your first time, you know what I mean? Because every song is its own thing. It doesn’t matter because you’ve been writing for 10, 20, 30 years, you still kind of get that chill when you know it’s the right title, you know it’s the right melody. It’s still like the first time. So I still enjoy that part of it, but I’ve written so many songs, played so many shows that I kind of don’t … I mean, I don’t really worry about it anymore.”

Fans can stay tuned to Rhett Akins‘ social media for updates.