Adam Rutledge just released a new single, “Unwind,” which was inspired, at least in part, by his wife, Kelly. The rising star wrote the song with Jeff Smith and Julie Wood, recalling a tough day Kelly had, and his attempt to make her feel better.

“She came home after a particularly crazy day, and I could just see it on her face when she walked in the door,” Adam recounted to Everything Nash. “I did what any good husband would do. I just tried to help her relax, and help her unwind a little bit. And that’s where the idea of the song came from, seeing her struggling with this whole thing to try to help her relax a little bit.”

“Unwind” is from Adam’s upcoming new album, called Don’t Stop, scheduled to be released on September 18.

“It’s going to have 12 to 15 songs on it,” Adam revealed. “We’re trying to decide what to put on it, what not to put on it. I’m all in favor of putting everything I have on it, but my team thinks that we should hold some things back. But ‘Unwind’ will definitely be on it.”

Adam has one voice on his team he listens closely to: country music superstar Phil Vassar, who has taken Adam under his wing, in both professional and personal ways.

“I love Phil,” Adam boasted. “He’s a super great mentor to me. I bounce a lot of ideas off of him, and he’s been super supportive the whole way, just showing me the ropes. He kicked me out of the ditches, so to speak. He takes me out on tour from time to time, and helps me that way. His name alone has given me a lot of credibility. I’m super grateful for him.”

Adam had a lot of plans leading up to the release of Don’t Stop, plans that were unfortunately derailed when he was forced to come off of the road because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I just want to be back on the road for this record,” Adam acknowledged. “It’s one thing to start a record and have that kind of thing happen, but getting out and playing in front of people —  that’s where our bread and butter is, and that’s what makes me happy. And so that’s my goal is that 2021 will be full of concerts.”

Keep track of updates at AdamRutledgeMusic.com.