Thomas Rhett at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds -- July 30.
Tuesday, July 30, 8 p.m.
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
An Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association Award winner who can boast a remarkable 18 chart-topping hits in a mere nine years, Thomas Rhett, on July 30, serves as the opening headliner for this year's Mississippi Valley Fair's grandstand acts, the singer/songwriter sure to demonstrate why USA Today labeled him “The Prince of Country Music.”
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1990, Rhett was raised in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and grew up knowing other singers including Tim McGraw and the team of Brooks & Dunn. After learning to play drums while attending junior-high school, Rhett would go onstage with his father and play, while in high school, he was part of a band named The High Heeled Flip Flops. Rhett went to Lipscomb University in Nashville to study communications, but dropped out of college when he was 20 to pursue a career in music, subsequently accepting a publishing deal by Big Machine Label Group to write songs. After composing "I Ain't Ready to Quit" for Jason Aldean's 2010 album My Kinda Party, Rhett signed a recording contract with Big Machine Records' Valory Music Group division in 2011. My Kinda Party's first 21 weeks were spent in the top 40 of the Billboard 200, and Rhett also co-wrote the 2013 singles "1994" for Aldean, "Parking Lot Party" for Lee Brice, and "Round Here" for Florida Georgia Line.
In early 2012, he released his debut single "Something to Do with My Hands," which was followed later that year by "Beer with Jesus." Both made the top 30 on the Hot Country Songs charts, and Rhett's third single "It Goes Like This" topped the Country Airplay chart and also peaked at number two on the Hot Country Songs. The artist's debut album, also titled It Goes Like This, was released in October of 2013, and reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in March of 2015. To date, Rhett has released six studio albums (with a seventh, About a Woman, scheduled for release next month), and two EPs, and has currently sold 40 million singles and 4.5 million certified albums in the United States. He has also received four Grammy Award nominations with two albums being nominated for Best Country Album (in 2017 and 2019), while his albums have produced more than 20 singles on the Billboard Hot Country and Country Airplay charts, with 18 reaching the number-one position on the latter.
Thomas Rhett performs his Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds set at 8 p.m. on July 30, and $105-130 MVF Fun Cards are required for admittance into any and all Grandstand concerts this summer. For more information on the concert and the Mississippi Valley Fair, call (563)326-5338 and visit MVFair.com.
