CMT Blog: Rodney Atkins

According to Rodney Atkins, when he gave up smokin', women and drinkin' last night, it was the worst 15 minutes of his life. Or so goes the song. And now he wants to know what the worst 15 minutes of your life were. It could be a similar tale of giving up a bad habit that was very short-lived -- or something even worse. Maybe it was the day you got caught cheatin'. Maybe it was the morning you woke up not knowing where you were. Whatever it was, if you send Atkins a photo, video or just an e-mail about that horrible quarter hour, he'll pick out the best of the worst, and the winner will get a trip for two to San Diego to see him in concert on Oct. 24, a meet-and-greet and a behind-the-scenes backstage tour. The prize includes roundtrip airfare from Southwest Airlines and two nights hotel accommodations.

This makes me so proud -- that a country artist of this caliber would take the time to celebrate our troops with a special concert on Aug. 14. Carrie Underwood isn't touring much this summer because she's been prepping her new album, but this Salute to the Troops show is special. She's doing the show, along with John Rich, Rodney Atkins and Jake Owen, for the soldiers and families of Fort Campbell, Ky., during the Week of the Eagles event. "People just expect there to be a military, but they don't see faces and they don't know names," said Underwood. "It's very important to just go and raise awareness and bring some cheer to people who might not get it all the time, people who are stuck in another country, away from their family and friends and kids." The concerts are free and civilians are welcome.

Photo credit: Mike Theiler

One week from today, I would normally be loading up my car with notepads, pens, camera lens, cell phone batteries, rain ponchos and about 50 ounces of really strong sunblock. Then I'd strap on my media credentials and enter the Country Thunder grounds in Twin Lakes, Wis.

I'm not going this year, for a list of reasons too long to blog about. But that hasn't stopped me from crying a river over it to anyone who will listen. There is so much I'll miss, from the fresh air and henna tattoos to the corn dogs and people-watching. I might even kind of miss the muddy parking lot. But obviously, when there are four days of country happening practically right in my backyard, what I will really miss this year is the non-stop music.

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There are so many country songs about small towns. But somehow, not one of them ever mentions Meth Watch.

Now, I know I'm gullible. And I like to believe that all those pictures of small towns that country music paints are real. But after spending eight hours in the car yesterday, traveling through the Midwest's rural farm towns, I was struck with the loss of innocence.

Where I expected to see Justin Moore's old dirt roads, I saw signs telling me, "This Town Is on Meth Watch." When I was looking for Rodney Atkins' lemonade stands, I saw only adult bookstores. When I wanted to see kids painting their names on dirt road bridges, I just saw billboards for fireworks outlets. And while I was trying to find Billy Currington's little country store with an old Coke sign, I saw boarded-up shops. There were no flat-bed trucks with guys selling turnips, either.

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The early bird gets the worm and -- at least Friday morning (May 29) on Fox & Friends -- Rodney Atkins, too. And even better, a live performance of Atkins' brand new single, "15 Minutes." The one where he admits that he gave up smokin', women and drinkin', and it was the worst 15 minutes of his life. It is a solid country summertime hit if I've ever heard one. One where he sounds a little bit like Dierks Bentley (when he laughs) and a little bit like Tim McGraw (when he drawls). Not a bad combination at all. So I'm looking forward to hearing Atkins do it live in the New York studio. He'll be on Fox sometime between 6 and 9 a.m. ET, right when I'm getting my kids off to school (which is pretty much the worst 15 minutes of my life), so I will have to DVR this one to make sure I don't miss it.

Picture any clique from your high school. Bitchy Cheerleaders. Holier-Than-Thou Jocks. Squinty-Eyed Stoners. Now try to picture Nashville's singers and songwriters being that divisive. I've tried to imagine it, but just can't. Even though a feature story in The Washington Post ponders the very real possibility that it may be exactly what's happening on Music Row.

What the article really is is a big-picture look at small-town songs. About how those songs have spread throughout the country landscape like fire on a stream of kerosene down a dirt road, with Justin Moore's "Small Town USA," Rodney Atkins' "These Are My People," Jason Aldean's "Hicktown" and Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried" right there in the thick of it.

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It makes sense that two country stars would have the same taste in tour buses. But I never realized you could actually pass down a bus from one artist to another. In this video interview with Rodney Atkins, though, he talks about how he was in love with Martina McBride's tour bus when he was first on the road as her opening act. So when her lease ran out, the bus company offered it to Team Atkins. They've made some changes to the big red bus since signing the papers. It's now adorned with 12-gauge shotgun shells around the window frames, pictures of Atkins' family and the third place ribbon he and his son won in the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. There's no ribbon hanging on the bus wall for his No. 1 song, "It's America," but I'm guessing he'll find some other way to commemorate that.

Ever wonder how true that Rodney Atkins song "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)" really is? For Carrie Underwood, it was way, way, way too true. In an audio clip of her describing her first date ever (which ultimately became her worst date ever), it totally fits. She was 16 and going out with an older guy. "And he came in and my dad actually had gotten out his shotguns to start cleaning them," she says. Then they went out, and he really didn't put that much thought into their destination. They tried going to a movie, but Underwood couldn't get in to any R-rated movies, so they watched a horrible movie, left halfway through and he took her home. Bet he's kicking himself now.

It seems like I left Detroit way too early. I moved out of my childhood home in the Motor City in 1983, the very same year a country radio station there started this Downtown Hoedown. A free country music festival. Free. And it's country. For three days. And it's not just a handful of bands you've never heard of. This year's event, on May 15-17, boasts Willie Nelson, Lee Ann Womack, Phil Vassar, Jack Ingram, Luke Bryan, Rodney Atkins, Zac Brown Band, Darryl Worley, Eli Young Band and even more on the books. Maybe I should go back, just for the weekend, and drag all my old friends into the city to hear some good country. The people in charge expect about 800,000 country fans to soak in all that rowdy twangy music in downtown's Hart Plaza. I wonder if John Rich will be one of them, now that they're shuttin' Detroit down for a very good reason.

Well, well, well. One man at Newsweek doesn't like a Rodney Atkins song, and now we're all supposed to think country ain't what it used to be? Thanks for your opinion, Steve Tuttle, but you are in the minority. So I'll take your rant -- and I'll raise you one.

You say you turn bright red with shame every time Atkins' "Watching You" comes on. You say Garth Brooks was the final nail in the honky-tonk coffin. And you jump to the conclusion that country music has somehow lost its outlaw charm. Well, guess what? That could very well be a good thing. With the precarious state our nation's in, why in the world would country fans want songs about senseless killings, prison life and heavy drinking? And why must you (and a handful of others like you) assume that music loved by moms driving to Target in their minivans is bad. Do you have something against Target? Minivans? Or Moms?

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