Thomas Rhett just kicked off his Home Team Tour, and while he may not be able to spend as much time with his wife,  Lauren Akins], and his four daughters, the “Angels Don’t Always Have Wings” singer still has family on the road with him, just a different kind of family.

“My road family, they are my family,” Rhett shared with Everything Nash and other outlets at a recent media event. “I say it on stage every night: my band, my crew, the truck drivers, the bus drivers — we really are one big family unit. So anytime we bring other artists out, like this year, Cole [Swindell  and Nate Smith are out with us, we just invite everybody to be a part of our family.”

Rhett makes sure he, along with his band and crew, put on the best show they can, every night, even if it means a lot of extra work.

“2019 was really maybe the first year we took rehearsal seriously,” Rhett said. “I think my band by week two was like, ‘I think we’re good.’ But we had started over-rehearsing since 2019, to make sure that, when we get to shows, it feels like we’ve already been doing it for six months.”

Rhett just celebrated his 20th No. 1 hit with “Half of Me,” his collaboration with Riley Green. The 33-year-old now finds himself in the very enviable position of having almost too many songs to play, making him get creative with his concerts each night.

“This year has been extra special and extra fun,” Rhett boasted. “A lot of hits to play which is really exciting. We changed up a lot of the songs, and moved around the setlist quite a bit from last year. We’re all just having fun. Our main mission, we say it every night in the dressing room, is to bring joy to people, and put smiles on people’s faces, so that’s what our mission is to accomplish out on the road. It’s been a fun tour so far.”

By his own admisison, Rhett can’t believe how far he has come since his debut single, “Something To Do With My Hands” came out 13 years ago.

“2012 when I was playing 600 shows a year, and Lauren [Akins] was with me on the tour bus with nine other dudes, it felt like we were never going to get out of that,” Rhett admitted to BMLG. “And my wife, being like, ‘Man, how many times have we been to Wisconsin this year?’ I wake up now, and we have four children. So much has changed in my career from success to bigger rooms, to getting to do neat collaborations with people.”

Find music and tour dates at ThomasRhett.com.

Read ‘Thomas Rhett: 11 Things To Know About the Superstar’ here.