ABC/Randy HolmesThis Wednesday night, Thomas Rhett plays himself on the latest episode of ABC’s Nashville. The “T-Shirt” singer steps in to help fictional country superstar Luke Wheeler out in a pinch, filling a crucial spot on the opening night of his tour.
In real life, Thomas is out with ACM Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean. The thing the two scenarios have in common is simple — the crowds love the song Thomas performs both on the show and every night during his set.
“Right when I walk onstage, I can look into the crowd and be like, ‘That person, that person, that person came because they wanted to hear “Die a Happy Man.”‘ And it’s amazing, because what me and Jason do could not be more polar opposite from each other. So you can tell the people that are strictly there to see Jason Aldean. But it’s amazing how that song, right after I play that, any hesitation they had towards me or my show is completely, the barrier’s just broken.”
As his multi-week number one gets even more exposure on national primetime TV, the Georgia native believes “Die a Happy Man” will likely continue to do what it’s been doing ever since it was released — opening a window for new fans to delve into the world of Thomas Rhett.
“I think that song just completely disarms people,” he says. “Whether you’re not a fan of anything else I do, there’s just something about that song that you can’t really not like. Yeah that song has completely changed how we play a live show, and it’s like we put it smack-dab in the middle and we bookend it with just nothing but hit-you-in-the-face uptempos.”
Thomas continues on the road with Jason Aldean and A Thousand Horses for the rest of the year, as the We Were Here trek morphs into the Six String Circus Tour. You can catch Thomas’ episode of Nashville tonight at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
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