Thomas Rhett on What It Means for a Nashville Artist to Be ‘Country Again’ on His New Album, ‘Side A’

variety.com:

Chris Willman Music WriterCountry — what a concept. At least it is on Thomas Rhett’s newly released “Side A” album, in which he lets his more pop-leaning side take six as he digs deeper into his home genre.

The titles of the first two singles from the collection, “What’s Your Country Song” (which already went No. 1) and its successor “Country Again,” may tell the tale: The boots are figuratively and literally coming out of the closet.Rhett is the most reliable maker of No.

1 songs in country music right now, or at least loosely shares that honor with Blake Shelton, who’s still no slouch. With “Side A” and a followup scheduled to be arriving this fall — titled, of course, “Side B” — he’ll be providing radio probably several years’ worth of.