Gary LeVox Still Can’t Believe Artists Look Up to Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts front man Gary LeVox has spent decades making country music, but he still has a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that today’s country artists were influenced by the music he made with the group.

When I asked LeVox, on Taste of Country Nights, if it took him a while to appreciate the impact Rascal Flatts had on artists who came after them, he admitted that it’s still something that feels strange to him.

Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox Says It’s ‘Weird’ to Be an Influence on New Artists

Levox said, “It’s still weird, you know, ’cause I don’t even, I can’t, I don’t even know where the time went.”

This is something we can all relate to when it comes to our own lives: The time seems to fly by so fast when you look back at things that you have worked hard to achieve.

For LeVox, it’s difficult to step outside of that and realize that the songs Rascal Flatts made in the early 2000s became an important part of the musical upbringing for an entirely new generation of country artists.

LeVox said,

“It’s weird because I’m just, I just, I love making music and singing and performing and doing all just — it’s hard to even imagine somebody looking up to you for the music that you did.”

But LeVox also remembers what it was like to watch other artists come through the Rascal Flatts tours along the way as the group became one of country music’s biggest acts.

Who Has Opened for Rascal Flatts?

The list is quite substantial.

The band gave plenty of artists an opportunity to share the stage with them, and LeVox says it was rewarding to eventually watch those artists find their own success.

“You know, we opened up a lot of doors. I mean, everybody opened for us,” LeVox said. “So it was pretty cool to watch everybody else get on and do their thing.”

Now, years later, he’s watching artists who grew up listening to Rascal Flatts carry pieces of that music into their own careers.

Read More: Do Country Artists Insure Their Voices? Don’t Ask Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox! [EXCLUSIVE]

And while LeVox may still find it “weird” to think of himself as an influence, there’s something pretty cool about realizing the music you spent your career making helped open the door for the next generation.