The fan club party for Rodney Atkins was held at Judge Bean's Bar-B-Q in Nashville, TN on Saturday, June 11 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The fans started filling the restaurant by about 1:30 and trickled in until about 2:30. A rough guest count would be about 50 to 60 fans. The fan club members all received a coffee mug when they left, and buttons with Rodney's picture on them were their meal ticket as well as a great take home keepsake. Everyone was served a BBQ sandwich and fries with a soda as their meal. Of course Rodney merchandise was available for purchase throughout the party. And Rodney stopped at each and every table to talk with his fans and do photos and autograph items throughout the party.
Not being familiar with Rodney and his music I talked to a few fans as well as his fan club president, Terri Thompson and I also sat down for a couple of minutes with Rodney himself. Another gentleman there was very helpful. He said he had all kinds of stories for me, and since he was Rodney's dad he had the inside scoop. Rodney is a very polite and unassuming man. He is genuinely appreciative of his fans and very much family oriented. His name tag proudly read "Lijah's Dad". The fans came from across the country for his party. Most were in Nashville for other Fan Fair activities, but a few came just for the party. Pat came from Massachusetts. While she was in Nashville for three fan club parties, she was very excited about Rodney's. She's been a fan since seeing him in concert last fall and she was hooked. Deb and her daughter were there from Michigan. They were also doing other Fan Fair activities, but have been fans for about 3 or 4 years. Kat and Denise were there from Florida. Both are recent fans, but have nothing but great things to say about Rodney.
No matter whom I talked to, words like "loyal," "Positive Energy" and "appreciative to his fans" were said. For Deb and her daughter, they said that they had been having a really tough year and just seeing Rodney in concert made them feel a lot better because of all of his positive energy and his caring attitude towards the fans. His fan club has been recently taken over by Terri and she is in the process of some major restructuring and it is already taking off as new fans jump on board. What better person to have running your club than a dedicated fan? While the fan club is being restructured, Rodney is busy in the studio recording his new album. The album has an expected due date in the spring of 2006, with the first single being released in the fall. His normally busy tour schedule has been cut drastically to allow work on the album, but fans will be well pleased with the end result, and Rodney should be back on the road soon. In talking with Rodney, he was very excited about this project. He was also thrilled at the fans that came to his party, very appreciative that they took the time to come and support him.
Midway through the party, he took a break from visiting with his fans to sing for them. He hit the stage for an acoustic set backed by two guitar players and his drummer. He sang six songs for the intimate gathering of fans. The upcoming single, "When An Angel's Hands Are Tied," a cute little song inspired by his son "Chasin' Girls," and of course his smash single, "Honesty." His voice just seems to draw you in and I look forward to hearing much more from Rodney in the future. I went in not sure who Rodney really was and I left a fan.
