There is a new wave of excitement that is slowly forming and rolling across the American south, and that wave is centered on Country music singer and songwriter Rhett Akins. As a formidable performer, Rhett’s current live show is a combination of honky tonk fun, sing along, tailgate party, and rock concert. Much of the current wave of excitement around Rhett stems from his love of songwriting and some recent cuts of his songs by other major artists including; Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, Joe Nichols, Jake Owen, Colt Ford, Rodney Atkins, Josh Turner, and Luke Bryan. In 2008 he wrote the chart topping “Put a Girl in it” which was released by Brooks and Dunn making it all the way to number 2 on the Billboard charts. In 2009 Rhett’s song “Barefoot and Crazy” was released by Jack Ingram and quickly made it into the top 10. These songs and many of his other recent cuts are part of Rhett’s current live show and the crowds are reacting warmly, singing along. His concert repertoire also includes his earlier top 10 hits I Brake For Brunettes, Don’t Get Me Started, She Said Yes, and That Ain’t My Truck as well as some remakes of songs by his idols, Hank Williams Junior, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

A Rhett Akins concert isn’t just an event, it’s a happening. Backed by a great band, the shows are truly electric, and Rhett’s uncanny ability to command an audience while relating to them on a personal level is truly unique. Many songs are set-up by Rhett telling a short story about his younger days growing up in Valdosta Georgia. Fun tales of teenage mischief on the river banks, girls, high school football, and hunting are good prefaces to his songs about country life for everyday folks. It is not uncommon at a Rhett Akins concert to see young people singing along with every song, regardless of whether or not they were radio hits.

Football, not music, was Rhett’s first passion as a youngster, and his interest in the sport would eventually lead him to become a quarterback for the Junior Varsity team at the University of Georgia. After breaking every bone in his body 3 times, he decided football wasn’t his life’s work, yet he has kept a strong interest in it to this day, tuning in to watch national and college games weekly during football season. He has recently done some co-writing with Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins and one of their songs was played on the 2009 NFL season opening game between Tennessee and Pittsburg.

Rhett’s latest album “Down South” released in 2008 is a collection of new songs about country life written for the very people of Rhett’s new country generation. During that same year, he began playing some shows at college bars and fraternities in the Southeast. This new “Rhett Wave” into the college audiences of the south is creating quite a stir, as the young audiences are a natural fit to the young at heart Akins. “People Like Me” released in 2006 also contains some great songs with similar themes including the anthem “Kiss My Country Ass”, a showstopper that closes many of his concerts.

One more side to the complex character of Rhett Akins is Rhett the hunter and outdoorsman. Highly skilled with a bow and rifle, he has been hunting wild game for most of his life and is a frequent guest on many hunting and outdoors shows like “The Tommy Wilcox Show” or “Realtree Road Trips with Michael Waddell”, the number one show on the Outdoor Channel. He has just completed A CD of hunting songs with Michael called “Bone Collectors” which will be released soon.

Since he first hit the National scene as an opener for Reba McIntyre in 1995, Rhett has never stopped touring, and this has helped him to build a cult like following of loyal fans throughout the U.S. With loyal followers from the early days being joined by this new wave of interest, Rhett is not likely to stop doing what he loves anytime soon.