Thomas Rhett joins his father, Rhett Akins, for a country music concert this weekend at Wild Adventures.

Rhett Akins has come a long way since his days playing Lowndes High School football but not so far that Valdosta doesn’t still feel like home.

Granted, he’s been a country music star and a successful songwriter with plenty of Music City credentials for more than two decades, but he still has family here. Two months ago, Lowndes Education Improvement Foundation named Akins as its 2014 Distinguished Alumnus. This weekend, he and his son, country star Thomas Rhett, play Wild Adventures. They are dedicating the Valdosta performance to a cousin facing Cystic Fibrosis.

Yet even with hit songs such as his recordings, “That Ain’t My Truck,” “She Said Yes,” “Don’t Get Me Started,” “Drivin’ My Life Away,” and with his songwriting credits for country stars such as Brooks & Dunn, Blake Shelton, Billy Currington and his son, Akins attributes his work ethic to what he learned from South Georgia family and on the Lowndes High football field.

“My coaches instilled in me tough principles of never quitting, never giving up,” Akins says.

With his partners in the Peach Pickers, Akins’ songwriting credits include country hits like “Put a Girl In It,” “Barefoot and Crazy,” “Gimme That Girl,” “All About Tonight,” “Honey Bee,” “Boys ’Round Here,” “Take a Back Road,” “Hey Girl,” and many more.

To create this many hits, Akins always writes songs. He estimates that in the past year, he’s written 160 songs.

“That’s what’s in my notebook. … I’m not the most talented singer. I’m not the most talented guitar player,” he says. “I’m not the most talented writer, but I write a lot.”

He compares writing a hit song to catching fish.

“I compare it to catching a fish,” Akins says. “If I lay in bed, I’m not going to catch a fish. If I get up and go to the pond, well, my odds of catching a fish immediately go up 50 percent. I treat songwriting as a job.”

A 24-7 job

If an idea strikes while at dinner, he stops and texts it to himself. No matter when, Akins must stop and write it down, or he knows from experience he will forget the idea.

“You just got to show up and be there.”

In addition to his success, it has been exciting watching the rise of his son, Thomas Rhett, in the same field.

As for his son’s stage name, Akins explains that he, the father, is named Thomas Rhett Akins Sr., while the son is named Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. Despite 20 years in the country-fame business, people still misspell Akins’ last name, or they think he’s related to other country stars such as Chet Atkins. With country music already having a Rhett Akins, a Chet Atkins, a Trace Adkins, and a Rodney Atkins, Akins advised his son to adopt his first and middle names for the stage: Thomas Rhett.

Initially, the name change gave the son some distance from his father in the same field. It allowed Thomas Rhett to develop in his own right. All while Akins gave his son advice.

“At first, he called me everyday, sometimes a couple of times a day, but that was two years ago when he was starting,” Akins says. “Now he has it under control, but I do, I still offer advice. He’ll email me a song and I give him input. … But it’s not about me with him. Any advice I give him, it all starts from I want him to be as successful as he can be.”

Rhett Akins and Thomas Rhett are one of the only, if not the only, father and son working independently in country music. Occasionally, they join one another on stage. When Akins attends one of his son’s shows, Thomas Rhett usually invites his father on stage, but they rarely perform together.

At Wild Adventures, father and son plan playing together on stage, as well as play their own sets of music.

Akins notes that the Wild Adventures show illustrates the change of status for father and son. Akins says with pride, “Now, he’s the headliner and I’m the opening act.”

SHOWTIME

Rhett Akins and Thomas Rhett perform.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, June 7.

Where: Wild Adventures Theme Park, Old Clyattville Road.

Admission: Show is included in regular park admission; reserved seating is available for an additional price.

More information: Visit www.wildadventures.com

Note: Seventy guests who donated in advance through Thomas Rhett’s website for the concert’s charity fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis will get to meet father and son prior to the show and receive a signed photograph.