Band Info
Though country singer Rodney Atkins didn't get his first guitar until one Christmas in high school, he took to the instrument instantly and was soon playing anywhere he could around his Cumberland Gap, TN, home. While at college at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Atkins used the opportunity to go into Nashville as often as he could, and by the time he graduated he was starting to make himself known as a performer in the area. In 1997, he signed to Curb Records and was set to release his debut shortly after, but when he didn't like the finished results and label head Mike Curb gave him the go-ahead to record new songs, Atkins spent the next two years working with various producers, engineers, and musicians for an album that would ultimately never see the light of day. He resurfaced, however, in 2003 with his true debut, Honesty, and three years later “If You're Going Through Hell,” recorded in his home studio, came out.

There’s a very good reason that no less than four songs from Rodney Atkins’ platinum-selling 2006 album “If You’re Going Through Hell” became No. 1 hits—a feat that no one had accomplished since 2002. It’s the same reason that two of those songs became the most-played of 2006 (“If You’re Going Through Hell [Before the Devil Even Knows]”) and 2007 (“Watching You”), and why concert audiences all over the country are cheering him on and singing along.

It’s because Atkins has a rare gift for reflecting the lives of his listeners in his music—their hopes, their concerns, their spirit, their adversities, even their sense of humor. Simply put, as he sang in another chart-topping smash, “These Are My People.” A native of small-town East Tennessee, the adopted son of a loving family and the proud father to a family of his own, Atkins understands regular lives because he still leads one. “People always talk about image—‘You’re the guy in the ball cap, the All-American country boy,’” says Atkins, who does indeed still favor caps to cowboy hats. “But if the songs don’t connect with the folks listening, then none of that stuff matters.” Atkins makes that connection again and again on his much-anticipated latest album, “It’s America.” “I try to sing songs with an honest view of ourselves, of myself, of the struggle, of the laughter,” he says. “It’s about being human.”

“If You’re Going Through Hell” gave Atkins his true breakthrough. In addition to the overwhelming radio and video airplay, he earned the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Male Vocalist award, plus five other ACM nominations and two Country Music Association nominations. He has also had the opportunity to amass some amazing memories—from public moments like performing for a half-million people at the National Memorial Day concert in Washington, D.C., to private ones like getting to thank hero Garth Brooks for his inspiration. He’s performed for former President George W. Bush. Twice. He’s toured with the superstar likes of Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Martina McBride and ZZ Top. Similarly, he’s had the pleasure of helping the causes that mean a lot to him, such as the National Council for Adoption. “A lot of my dreams have become reality – I’m living the American dream,” he acknowledges. “It’s amazing to me.” Even so, Atkins hasn’t changed a bit. He’s still the caring husband and father who wants to see his family thrive, still the hopeful dreamer who paid his dues in honky-tonks across America, still the small-town boy who inherited his parents’ warmth and work ethic. He still feels an unbreakable connection to the fans who buy his albums, request his songs and fill up his shows. These are his people, and he has no intention of letting them down.