1) Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This: where country was headed in 2013
If you drop a pin in mainstream country around 2012–2014, you’ll land in a crossroads that now feels obvious in hindsight: arena-sized drums were getting normal, “country-rap” cadences were flirting with the center of the dial, and pop songwriting discipline—tight pre-choruses, chorus lifts, earworm tag lines—was becoming standard operating procedure. It was the era when the mix mattered as much as the lyric, because the listener’s first impression often happened through a phone speaker or a truck’s Bluetooth at highway volume.
That’s the ecosystem Thomas Rhett walked into with his debut album—It Goes Like This—released in 2013 via Valory.
And whether you love every trend from that period or you roll your eyes at some of them, it’s hard to deny the strategic intelligence of how this record positions him: one boot in contemporary country tradition, the other planted firmly in modern pop craft.
AllMusic lists the album’s release date as March 19, 2013, while the widely-circulated commercial release date for the full album is October 29, 2013—this kind of date mismatch can happen across databases due to regional releases, digital listings, or cataloging quirks.
What is consistent across reputable music references is the central reality: this was the official first full-length statement that introduced him as a frontman, not just a name in songwriting credits.
And here’s the sneaky part: the debut doesn’t just chase what was working—it “road-tests” what would become Thomas Rhett’s core superpower: making genre hybridization feel casual, like it’s not a gimmick, just his personality.
2) The “Rhett” in the room: lineage, writing chops, and why this debut felt inevitable
Thomas Rhett isn’t an industry outsider who stumbled into Nashville—he’s Nashville-adjacent by blood and by apprenticeship. AllMusic notes he’s the son of country singer Rhett Akins, and that family proximity to the craft shows up in the album’s DNA: these songs are built like they were written by someone who’s watched how hits are assembled, revised, and stress-tested live.
That matters because debut albums often wobble. They can be “a collection of whatever we had,” or worse, a label-driven mood board with no unified voice. This record doesn’t feel like that. Even when it leans into trends, there’s a consistent authorial fingerprint: conversational phrasing, melodic choruses that climb instead of wander, and arrangements that protect the vocal.
In other words: the debut is trying to be repeatable. And in Nashville, repeatable is power.
Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This also arrives with an important balancing act: it wants credibility with country listeners while still being nimble enough to play in the bigger pop sandbox. That tension—authenticity versus accessibility—has been the tug-of-war in mainstream country for decades. The difference here is how calmly the album handles it. It’s not apologizing for the pop sheen; it’s using it as a delivery system for hooks.
3) The production lane: Jay Joyce + Luke Laird as a two-engine approach
One of the most telling details about the album is that it isn’t sonically “one-note.” The project features production from Jay Joyce and Luke Laird.
That pairing is interesting because it suggests intention: you can color different songs with slightly different instincts while keeping the overall album cohesive.
From a musician’s perspective, producers don’t just pick sounds—they pick priorities. Do we prioritize groove? Lyric clarity? Vocal intimacy? A giant chorus lift? Guitar bite? Low-end punch? On this record, you can hear a consistent priority stack:
Vocal sits on top (lyrics remain intelligible even with busy tracks)
Chorus impact is non-negotiable (arrangements save the biggest energy for the hook)
Rhythm drives the “feel” (drums and bass are mixed like pop records)
Guitars serve the hook (less “guitar hero,” more “guitar architect”)
That last point is a big deal. Plenty of country records have guitars; fewer use guitars with pop-style restraint—where the part is designed to be memorable without stealing focus.
And Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This is very much a “parts” album: riffs, loops, claps, acoustic patterns, and small ear-candy moments that keep the track moving.
4) The guitar-player’s lens: tones, grooves, and arrangement decisions that sell the hook
If you’re a guitarist listening closely, the record is basically a clinic in utility playing—the kind of playing that makes songs work on radio.
Acoustic guitar as the glue
A ton of modern country-pop depends on acoustic guitar not as a lead instrument, but as rhythmic mortar: it fills the midrange, gives the listener “country texture,” and keeps the track warm even when the drums are huge. On multiple tracks, you’ll hear that bright, compressed acoustic strum—often doubled—acting like a shaker you can chord.
Electric guitar as punctuation
Instead of long solos, electric lines tend to show up as:
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short riffs that identify the song in seconds,
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octave hooks that shadow the vocal rhythm, or
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palm-muted patterns that add motion to the verses.
This is especially important on debut albums: radio programmers and casual listeners don’t always “wait” for a song to get good. They decide quickly. Guitar punctuation—those tiny “that’s the song!” moments—helps a track brand itself.
The groove-first mindset
Even when the lyric is the star, the groove is what makes people replay. Mainstream country in this era leaned hard into drum sounds that translate to arenas and streaming, and the album’s rhythm sections reflect that: kicks that are felt more than heard, snares tuned for crack, and bass that locks to the kick like a pop record.
That’s why Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This still plays smoothly today: it was mixed for modern listening habits before “modern listening habits” became the only habits.
5) Track-by-track: the moments that define the album
Rather than reciting every song like a directory, I want to spotlight the defining “moments”—the musical decisions that make the record feel like a cohesive debut statement.
Note: Track listings and credits are well documented in major references.
“Whatcha Got in That Cup”
A classic opener move: introduce the attitude and tempo profile early. The writing credits include Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, and Craig Wiseman, with Jay Joyce producing.
From a performance angle, it sets the “hangout” tone—loose, social, and rhythm-forward.
“Something to Do with My Hands”
Written by Rhett with Lee Thomas Miller and Chris Stapleton, produced by Joyce.
This is one of those tracks where you can hear the craft: the lyric is playful, but the structure is pure hit-making discipline. It’s the kind of song that reminds you a debut artist can still carry veteran-level writing rooms.
“Get Me Some of That”
This track is a thesis statement for early-2010s mainstream country energy. It’s also one of the songs that helped the album’s mainstream reach, and it’s listed among the album’s big singles in major discography references.
Musically, it’s built for crowd response—call-and-response phrasing, rhythmic emphasis, and an arrangement that knows exactly when to widen.
“Call Me Up”
When a record leans energetic, it needs tracks that breathe. “Call Me Up” functions like that: it relaxes the grip without losing momentum.
“It Goes Like This”
The title track is the branding engine. It’s not just a song; it’s a phrase designed to stick in everyday speech. If you’ve ever written hooks, you know how hard it is to make a title feel like something people already say. That’s the trick here.
And importantly: the album’s reputation and chart footprint are deeply tied to this song’s success as a single.
“Make Me Wanna”
This is Thomas Rhett leaning into romantic immediacy—clear scenario, direct language, easy mental movie. As a guitarist, I appreciate how these kinds of tracks often hide their complexity in the groove: you have to play tight, not flashy, to make it feel effortless.
“Front Porch Junkies”
Not everyone loved every stylistic swing of the era, but critics noticed the way this track played with hip-hop/country fusion vibes.
Whether it’s your favorite or not, it captures a real moment in mainstream country’s evolution.
The deep cuts (and why they matter)
Debut albums are judged by singles, but they’re sustained by deep cuts—songs that convert casual listeners into fans. On this record, the deeper tracks function as world-building: they show Thomas Rhett isn’t only one vibe. He can do playful, romantic, rowdy, and reflective without the album feeling like a playlist.
That versatility—paired with consistent pop-level structure—is one reason Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This reads like a launching pad rather than a one-off.
6) The singles era: how the rollout built him into a radio staple
Here’s the measurable impact: the album peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, according to Billboard’s reporting looking back at his chart history.
That’s not a niche achievement—especially for a debut in a genre that’s often siloed.
Discography summaries also note that the album debuted in the Billboard 200 top 10 and produced multiple No. 1 Country Airplay singles.
That matters because Country Airplay No. 1s are the currency of long-term career velocity in Nashville. They create touring leverage, brand leverage, and (most importantly) room to experiment later.
In other words: this debut didn’t just introduce him. It bought him future creative freedom.
And because the record is tuned for replay—hooky, rhythmic, modern—it didn’t feel like an “album-only” statement. It worked as a pipeline for singles without sounding like a Frankenstein collection.
That’s a difficult needle to thread, and Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This threads it.
7) What the debut predicted about the next decade of country-pop
Listening now, the album feels like a forecast in three ways:
1) The “country-pop” hybrid would become the default, not the exception
The record treats pop structure as normal. That helped pave the way for the broader acceptance of big pop choruses in country radio.
2) Groove would keep winning
Even when lyrics vary, the record’s grooves stay consistent—because groove is what survives playlist listening. You can shuffle tracks and still feel like you’re in the same world.
3) The frontman identity is “approachable,” not mythic
A lot of classic country sells characters larger than life. This album sells relatability. That approach has scaled incredibly well in the streaming era, where fans want artists to feel like people they could actually know.
It’s not that Thomas Rhett invented these trends—but Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This helped normalize them as a mainstream, hitmaking formula.
8) Listening guide: how to hear it like a musician (and still have fun)
If you want to re-listen with “musician ears,” here are a few practical things to focus on—without turning the album into homework.
Follow the chorus lift
On most tracks, notice what changes at the chorus:
the drum pattern opens up
the vocal melody jumps to a higher register
background vocals widen the stereo image
guitars move from texture to emphasis
That’s modern hit arrangement in action.
Track the acoustic guitar’s job
Instead of asking “is the acoustic cool?” ask “what problem is it solving?”
Often, it’s solving “how do we keep this track feeling country while everything else is pop-sized?”
Count how often riffs repeat
Pop craft loves repetition—not laziness, but branding. A riff that returns is like a logo. This album uses that trick a lot, which is why so many hooks feel instantly familiar.
Notice the lyric economy
A lot of lines are built to be sung easily in a car: clean vowel sounds, not too many tongue-twister consonants, and punchy end rhymes that land where the beat wants them.
That’s part of why Thomas Rhett It Goes Like This translated so well to radio.
9) FAQs
What is Thomas Rhett’s first album?
His debut studio album is It Goes Like This, released via Valory in 2013.
How well did the debut perform on the charts?
Billboard has cited that It Goes Like This peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.
Did the album produce major country hits?
Yes—discography summaries report that the album debuted top 10 on the Billboard 200 and produced multiple No. 1 singles on Country Airplay.
Who produced the album?
Major references list Jay Joyce and Luke Laird among the producers.
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