John Rich ‘Rocks’ the Stores With Two New CDs

While heating up the small screen as he is getting ready for the season finale of NBC's 'Celebrity Apprentice,' John Rich is also heating up the airwaves and store shelves with not one, but two "six pak" albums released this week. One is titled 'Rich Rocks,' featuring six uptempo tunes, and the other, 'For the Kids,' was developed to raise funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the charity John is playing for on 'Celebrity Apprentice.'

"It's interesting how that timed out. 'Rich Rocks' I actually cut [during] the summer of last year. The song 'Country Done Come to Town' was on there, and I was going to put it out back then, but then we started talking about Big & Rich getting back together and 'Celebrity Apprentice' and all this stuff," John tells The Boot. "It just didn't seem like the right time to put it out yet. I had Kid Rock on it, Lil Jon was already on it. Hank Williams, Jr. makes an appearance on it. It's probably the most hard-rocking country record ever. It's off the charts how hard it rocks. There's a song on there that rocks so hard called 'Mack Truck,' that the Nashville Predators were using as their Smashed Up Reel song."

"I had that in the can last year, and then 'Apprentice' comes along, and I've done really well on that," the singer-songwriter-producer continues. "I said, 'You know what? I need to have a record where the money goes to St. Jude.' I wrote 'For the Kids,' and put together a compilation of songs about kids and about taking care of kids. I said, 'Let's put them both out at the same time. The whole world's paying attention, so let us show them that me and Lil Jon did make music together, and it puts more money in St. Jude's pockets. Why not just put it all out together at the same time?' Warner Brothers agreed and said it was a great idea."

If that weren't enough, John has reunited with his duo partner, Big Kenny, and their new single, 'Fake I.D.,' is scheduled for release next month. The tune is also featured in the film, 'Footloose,' in a scene featuring Julianne Hough.

John also returns to the road next month as Big & Rich launch the Xtreme Muzik: The Tour, along with Gretchen Wilson and Cowboy Troy, in Springfield, Mo., June 18. The trek will hit more than 30 cities before wrapping up September 19 in Puyallup, Wash.