Oct. 3, 2008 — Rodney Atkins received some welcome exposure when he opened for Brad Paisley on last year’s Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour, but he also got some pretty good schooling at the same time.
After a decade of slugging it out in Nashville, Rodney finally broke through in a big way over the last two years, and hitting the road with Brad allowed him to see how someone else from small-town roots was handling the glare of the spotlight. In contrast to the people Brad lampooned in "Celebrity," Rodney’s concluded that it’s possible to be both a star and a real person.
"I'm sure people wonder how you can do that and stay grounded," Rodney told The Press-Register of Mobile, Ala. "It's because you're allowed to kind of let your shadow out to play when you get on stage. And you take full advantage of that opportunity, because your job on stage is to kind of make people forget how expensive gas is right now, and how times are tough, a little bit. I love that I get to go on stage and still be a dad and a husband. I love that. ... It's therapy every night."
Rodney’s been working diligently on a follow-up to his album If You’re Going Through Hell. He was originally targeting a fall release date, but he’s pushed the schedule back. He’s now looking at putting out a single in the next month and issuing the album in 2009.