Walker Hayes’ Advice to Thomas Rhett About Touring With Lots of Young Kids? ‘You Can’t’

Aside from their status as successful country performers, Thomas Rhett and Walker Hayes have one big thing in common: They're both dads to multiple children. Rhett has four kids, while Hayes is a proud dad of six.

So as he started planning his headlining 2022 Bring the Bar to You tour, Rhett consulted his fellow dad about the logistics of touring with a large family. After all, Hayes is doing it: The family of eight headed out on the road together early this year for the singer's headlining Fancy Like Tour, and they took their two dogs on the bus with them, too.

But just because Hayes can do it doesn't mean Rhett can, or should.

"I actually talked to Walker about that the other day. I said, 'How can I do this?' And he said, 'You can't,'" Rhett recounted to Taste of Country and other outlets recently.

There's a key difference between the two families. Hayes' kids range in age from five to 15, while TR's oldest is six-year-old Willa Gray. His youngest daughter, Lillie Carolina, is just four months old.

"Walker's kids are older. They can eat by themselves. They can use the bathroom by themselves. They can put themselves to bed," Rhett goes on to say. "Mine, on the other hand, are kind of all over the place."

That being said, he's not ruling out the idea of bringing the family out on the road in some capacity.

"I do think Willa Gray and [four-year-old] Ada James are old enough now to travel with me, and to actually let Dad sleep until, like, nine," the singer says. "If the other two were out there, we'd be up at five, and I just — we've done it before, and my voice struggles so bad when we've gotta get up early on the road."

There'll be dates when just the singer's wife Lauren is out on the road with him, he continues, and other, special dates when the whole family comes along for the ride, like when he plays Colorado's legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in August. But other times, he'll be solo, which will give him a chance to focus on songwriting in between shows.

"And when the kids do decide to come out, we'll take melatonin," he jokes.