Nov 28, 2007

 
(Nashville, Tenn) - ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year, Rodney Atkins, flew to Washington, D.C. last Friday, November 16^th for a special performance in the White House East Room in honor of National Adoption Month.

In his role as spokesman for the National Adoption Council, Atkins was invited to perform for President Bush, the First Lady, several members of Congress and a room full of adopted children and their families.  Joined by his wife Tammy, son Elijah and his parents Allan and Margaret, Atkins performed for the invitation only crowd and shared his own heartwarming story of adoption.  The President enjoyed two of Atkins' hits and asked for a third. While performing "If Your Going Through Hell" son Elijah climbed up in the Commander-in-Chief's lap!

Prior to the show Atkins and his family were treated to a special "behind-the-scenes" tour of the inner workings of the White House.  In addition to the President's private movie theater; the group was shown the flower room, the chocolate room, where they saw a white chocolate replica of the White House in progress and the kitchen.  At lunch the kitchen staff treated Elijah with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich no sides, cut in triangles just the way he likes it.  Rodney was also able to make friends with Presidential Pups Beasley and Barney.  The highlight of the tour was the President's single lane bowling alley, where father and son enjoyed a few throws of the "first" bowling ball.

"It was an unbelievable experience. President Bush and his wife Laura made me and my family feel at home. What a thrill to see all the history that surrounded us," Atkins proclaimed.  "My Dad kept nudging me in arm and saying 'Can you believe this, ain't this something.' I was so honored to be there."

Atkins continued, "It was funny, the first thing I said on stage was 'Howdy y'all.' Then I said, 'I can't believe I just said y'all in the White House, but I'm sure it's not the first time y'all has been said here.' President Bush said 'No, its definitely not.' I just hope I represented respectfully country music and my family. It was a thrill I'll never forget. We even put the picture of President Bush with Elijah on the first page of my website. What an experience."

With the release his platinum selling album, If You're Going Through Hell, Rodney Atkins has had a career year - three back-to-back number one singles with "If You're Going Through Hell," "Watching You" and "These are My People." His current single "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)" is at #25 climbing.  In addition he is the reigning ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year Award and was nominated for this year's CMA Horizon Award. The singer/songwriter was also recently named the National Celebrity Spokesperson of the Year by the National Council For Adoption (NCFA), a leading adoption advocacy organization.