Thomas Rhett Talks Collaborations With Brantley Gilbert, Outnumber Hunger

Thomas Rhett is used to collaborating with other artists, co-writing plenty of songs: eight on his debut album 'It Goes Like This' (the Valory Music Co.), in addition to hit tunes for other artists, like the multi-week #1 'Round Here' (Florida Georgia Line), '1994' (Jason Aldean) and 'Parking Lot Party' (Lee Brice). But in just the last couple of months, he's been featured in a different type of collaboration, as a singer on two new singles.

"Oh, it was awesome," Rhett says of working with labelmates Brantley Gilbert and Justin Moore on 'Small Town Throwdown,' the latest single off Gilbert's upcoming May 19 album, 'Just As I Am.' "You know, we're the three guys on the label, and so it's just really cool to have, first of all, three of your buddies on a song, and second of all, all three of the guys on your label on the same song."

Rhett and Gilbert have also spent plenty of time on tour together, both in the past and on the current Let It Ride tour, which wraps up this weekend.

"One of my first shots at touring, I went out and toured with him, acoustic, for almost a year when he was still doing clubs, and now I'm on tour with him, and he's doing 10,000-seat arenas and amphitheaters and stuff," Rhett says.

Rhett's first collaborative singing experience came earlier this year on 'Give 'Em Hope', which brought together Rhett and 10 other country artists to support Outnumber Hunger.

"When 'Give 'Em Hope' was presented to me, it was a no-brainer," Rhett says. "Just to be a part of such a good cause is a really great thing, and 'Give 'Em Hope' was a great song, and I think it's a very inspirational song and such a great anthem for this cause ... and it came out just so great."

Big Machine Label Group, which encompasses the Valory Music Co., is donating 48 percent of each purchase of the song from iTunes to Feeding America, to benefit local food banks across the country.

"When you hear the stats of the actual issue of hunger at hand in America ... if you hear those stats and you don't react to it, it's just crazy," Rhett says, noting that one in six Americans go hungry every day. "That's a lot of people."

To learn more about the effort to fight hunger, follow Outnumber Hunger on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

This post has been produced in collaboration with our advertising partner, General Mills.