Rodney Atkins knows the value of taking the long way home, of veering off the beaten path onto that road less traveled once in a while. You can hear it in his music, in the lyrics of his smash single, “Take A Back Road,” a song that celebrates that feeling of getting away from the noise of everyday life, really living in the moment, and getting right with your soul. And you can see it in the way he lives his life: putting family first, listening to that inner voice and remaining true to himself, and striving to evolve and find unique ways of expressing himself through the music he puts out into the world. It’s a philosophy he tries to employ throughout his life, and it has led him to some amazing places. “What does it mean to follow your own path? I try to think about that a lot when I’m making an album,” explains Rodney, describing the journey he took in making his fourth album, “Take A Back Road.” “To me, it’s going somewhere you’ve never been, because when you do that,...