<b>By MIKE McCOMBS</b>

Country star Rodney Atkins will headline this year’s Beaufort Water Festival concert July 18 at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park.

Atkins, the 2006 Academy of Country Music’s Top New Male Vocalist, has sold more than 13 million albums and produced six No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot Country 100 charts (If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows, 2006; Watching You, 2007; These Are My People, 2007; Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy), 2008; It's America, 2009; and Take a Back Road, 2011).

His single Watching You was the No. 1 Song of the Decade according to Country Aircheck.

Though he began recording in 1997, he didn’t release his first album until 2003’s Honesty. His other albums include 2006’s If You're Going Through Hell, 2009’s It's America and 2011’s Take a Back Road.

His latest studio album, 2019’s Caught Up in the Country, was his first release in seven years.

Atkins believes it’s the most daring collection of his career, touching on emotions and sounds which will continue to expand his range — from the twangy title track to the slow-burn cover of Jason Isbell’s Cover Me Up.

“I’ve never taken it lightly,” he said in a release, “but with some of the other albums, I got to take my time for part of the album. But then when you get that first single finished, you gotta go, and you start working at a faster pace for the second half of the album. This time, I got to take that time with every song.”

Opening for the evening will be Scott Stevens, followed by Lainey Wilson as the second act.