Rodney Atkins | OohYeah

"I equated it to my bow and arrow moment," Atkins says. "I felt like I needed to stop, take a few steps back. Re-aim. Re-adjust. Get back on target, and to the level I wanted to operate on."It was a logical moment – he wanted his next sonic offering to not only push country music forward but stay connected to what had always made it great to begin with. And, in Atkins' eyes, that's songs about the highways of life; about family, and about love. And one true love, in particular. For Atkins, that's his wife Rose Falcon Atkins. He credits Rose, a singer and artist herself, with helping him to find his voice again – to re-embracing melodies and the art of singing itself. Her fingerprints, whether lyrically, in a duet or just in spirit, are all over his forthcoming record."I went through a dark time," Atkins says. "But when I met Rose, the world made sense again." And he started to see music in a whole new way."I'm a song mechanic," he says. "I just love working on songs." His forthcoming record explores the many sides of an artist who is only moving forward and never too proud to do what makes him a little uncomfortable. From the southern swagger of "What Lonely Looks Like" or the timeless twang of "Caught Up in the Country," they all paint a picture of a man who isn’t afraid to show what he loves – be it the country lifestyle or the woman by his side – because that's just who Atkins is. And that, he thinks, is what's most important.