Thomas Rhett on His Genre-Expanding New Album, Interpolating a Whitney Houston Classic & More: ‘The Vision for This Album Was Joy’

For Thomas Rhett, creating his new album, About a Woman, out Friday (Aug. 23) via The Valory Music Co., was a family affair.

The singer-songwriter, who has four children with his wife of nearly 12 years and childhood sweetheart, Lauren, tells Billboard, that his “two oldest [daughters, Willa Gray and Ada James] are starting to form their own opinions on what they like. If they go to hip-hop class and a Luis Fonsi song comes on, that’s what they think is fire. Or they’ll hear kids at school talking about Luke Combs or Morgan Wallen. When it comes to my music, they’ve become a little bit of my little A&R team. On the way to school, I’m playing a new demo and I’m watching if they start moving or if they’re asking to hear it again. So in a way, they influence a lot of the music. They can point out a bop. They love ‘Gone Country,’ ‘Back to Blue’ and ‘Don’t Wanna Dance.’”

Those songs are among the key tracks that represent the new album’s breadth of sounds, ranging from ‘90s country to pop and soul. “Don’t Wanna Dance,” which interpolates the 1987 Whitney Houston classic, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” presented a challenge for the singer-songwriter, turning the pop anthem’s bubbly yearning for romance on its head.

“It was not an easy feat… when you’re about to put arguably [one of] the most-listened and covered songs ever in one of our songs, and by one of the most amazing voices to ever live on this planet,” says Thomas Rhett, who has notched nearly two dozen Billboard Country Airplay No. 1 hits, including such pop-fueled love songs as “Die a Happy Man” and “Angels Don’t Always Have Wings.” “Don’t Wanna Dance” was co-written by Matt Dragstrem and Ryan Hurd, who texted Thomas Rhett the song file, along with a note that just said, “Whitney.”

“I was driving down Music Row and heard it, and when that chorus came on I was like, ‘I can’t not try this,’” the 2020 ACM Awards entertainer of the year recipient says. “It’s heartbreak, but it also makes you want to punch a hole through a wall, because you’re so jacked about the melody.”

Helming the album was the production team of revered producer Dann Huff and Julian Bunetta, who has produced recent albums for Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims. About a Woman was recorded at Berry Hill’s Blackbird Studio and at Bunetta’s Nashville home.

The album’s songs, such as the rhythm-driven “Fool” and laid-back “Overdrive,” draw inspiration from artists ranging from Steely Dan to the Oak Ridge Boys. Thomas Rhett recalls aiming to “channel ‘Beast of Burden’ and ‘Miss You’ by The Rolling Stones” when writing another album track, “Can’t Love You Anymore.”

“The vision for this album was just joy,” he says. “It’s this weird melting pot, and Julian and Dann figured out a way to make it feel progressive yet timeless. They’re both old souls,” Thomas Rhett says of Huff and Bunetta, recalling the “neat old school versus new school collaboration that came with knowing the same music and the same sounds in the same way.”

Like many of his previous albums, About a Woman draws much of its inspiration from his own love story with his wife. He keeps things upbeat and romantic with “Beautiful as You,” the midnight-velvet of “All the Bars Are Closed” and slow-burning “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Woman,” before closing out the album with the tender ballad “I Could Spend Forever Loving You.”

On “Church,” Thomas Rhett nods to his and Lauren’s high school love story through the lens of Eric Church’s music, lacing the tune with Church song titles including “Springsteen,” “Love Your Love the Most” and “Talladega.”

Though Thomas Rhett isn’t one of the original writers on “Church,” he rewrote the song’s final chorus, transforming it from a heartbreaker into one more closely aligned with the couple’s own story.

“This is Lauren’s favorite on the album, because when we were in high school, I bought [Church’s] Carolina record, which was his second album,” he says. “I had to buy a new copy every three months because I just wore it out. It kept skipping — but he was like our Zach Bryan. He was that dude who kind of got played on the radio but could care less if he was or not, and he was kind of grungy and would say things in songs that most people weren’t saying. I learned the entire album on acoustic guitar, and any time we were at a party, that’s all I played — so this song means a lot to us, because he was the soundtrack to our teenage years.”

Still, he says how involved Lauren is in hearing new music early on has shifted through the years.

“Even three years ago, I used to be at the point where every time I’d come off the road, I’d play her everything we wrote and she would sometimes get attached to [a song] that I wasn’t attached to — so it became this awkward conversation when it came time to record. She’s like ‘Oh, are you putting that on there?’ and I’m like ‘No,’ and she’s like ‘Why?’ So lately, I’ll slowly seed her things that I know for a fact that I love. I’ve even kind of quit playing demos because she’ll get attached to the demo [version] of a song. So, on this record, I might’ve played her a couple of demos but for the most part, I’ll play her rough cuts in the studio first.”

Meanwhile, the life vs. social media balance is one that Thomas Rhett and his family continue to refine. At one point, “Every bit of [social media] was off my phone,” he says. “I approved everything that went out, but I couldn’t look at it anymore.”

A recent conversation with his longtime manager, G Major Management’s Virginia Bunetta, helped him reframe his relationship with social media. “She said, ‘Everything is for sale.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, if one post doesn’t do well, you’re thinking, ‘What else about my life can I share that might get engagement?’ I think for me, for better or for worse, a lot of my engagement on social media is about my family,” he says. “You can go through this spiral of ‘I’m going to film this and this,’ and then you haven’t lived your day—you’ve just been capturing content. I’m trying to figure it out.”

The fact that music consumption among Gen Z has tilted toward social media and streaming as opposed to terrestrial radio, has only enhanced that challenge. “Artists that come from my generation, it was like there’s sort of one master to serve — if my song goes top 10 on radio, people are going to hear it,” says Thomas Rhett, 34. “Now, the landscape is so vast that it feels like when you speak on social media, you’re competing with a million voices. Some kid from Nebraska can put a video on social media and immediately have stardom. I think some of us are kind of sitting there going, ‘What is our voice today?’”

Ahead, he’ll launch a mini-residency at the BleauLive Theater inside Fontainebleau Las Vegas, with four shows on Dec. 6-7 and 13-14. He took inspiration from watching one of Miranda Lambert’s The Velvet Rodeo residency concerts in Vegas, as he was considering the new opportunity.

“I love the freedom they had,” he says of Lambert’s show. “They built a set that they probably would never take on the road, played songs that might not play a lot on the road, and did renditions that felt very old-school Vegas. When you go to a Vegas show, you want to see something different. I’m glad we are doing these shows, because it will be a different crowd. Yes, your fans will be there, but also it might just be the random dude playing blackjack who says, ‘I’ll go see a show.’ I think I’ll play longer, more obscure songs, get diligent with the covers, more Bakersfield, older country tunes with our spin on it.”

Meanwhile, back in Nashville, it seems the slate of downtown celebrity bars doesn’t seem to be slowing down soon — but don’t count Thomas Rhett among those with plans to add to the cluster.

“There were a couple of people who brought it up to me a couple of years ago, and I mean, I wake up every day and there’s a new bar,” he says. “I kind of think, ‘Would it be cooler to just open a sick brunch spot that doesn’t have my face plastered on the wall?’ That’s never been my vibe — I don’t want someone to walk into my restaurant and just see me everywhere. I’d want to serve the most banging biscuits and breakfast tacos and mimosas and call it ‘TR Tequila Bar’ or something. But it’s not really my style to do the Broadway thing, and people have too many options as it is.”

While a star bar may not be in the plans, ultimately releasing an album in another genre could be. Earlier this year, Thomas Rhett teamed with Contemporary Christian artist Brandon Lake for a cover of Elevation Music and Maverick City Music’s “Talking to Jesus.” During the pandemic years, he collaborated with another CCM luminary, Chris Tomlin.

As for releasing his own CCM album, he says, “That question has come up a lot lately. My thing is that I just want it to be the right version of that. I’m not trying to lead a church service, but my faith is extremely important to me. I do write a bunch of worship, Christian-type songs, and worship music is changing so much today. Brandon sort of renewed my love for it and my buddy Forrest Frank just came out with a banger of an album — I was talking to him like, ‘Do you think I could do this?’ and he was like, ‘Absolutely.’ So I think it’s nice that those two folks could maybe help me one day find what that version is for me. It’s a pipe dream that hopefully happens in this decade.”