On Saturday April 8, local country artist Johnny Rodes rounded up his Outlaw Girls to film segments of his latest music video, “Tiny Red Thong,” on the square in Murfreesboro.

“Tiny Red Thong” features Rodes, a tall, muscular, tattooed man in a cowboy hat, trying to catch the attention of a young woman. At the end of the video, Rodes “steals the girl away from the guy in the three-piece suit,” said his manager, Nikki Morgan.

The video precedes the Johnny Rodes Outlaw Band’s “Tour For A Cure,” which kicked off April 14 in Knoxville. The tour will consist of 150 concerts in as many cities, and Rodes said 20 percent of ticket and merchandise sales will be donated to Cancer Sucks and the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation to help fund cancer-related research.

“They call me the outlaw with a heart,” Rodes said.

After visiting a hospital and speaking with children living with cancer, he said he decided he could use his prominence to bring more awareness to the cause.

“Country artists have a voice and I want to use my voice,” Rodes said. “The kids melted my heart.”

Rodes wrote the song “Tell Me Why” about a person battling cancer.

Members of the Outlaw Girls will accompany Rodes on the tour. The Outlaw Girls are a group of young, attractive women who will “work the crowd and help promote merchandise during the shows,” said Suzie Whitt, manager of new Outlaw Girls Brittany Keller, Kristi Greenhaw and April Prater, all of whom were in Murfreesboro for the filming.

The Girls range in age from 19 to 25 and each said they wanted to be Outlaw Girls so that they could “help the children.”

Amanda Wyatt, 23, is the “face of the outlaw girls,” Rodes said. Wyatt is also the object of Rodes’ affection in his new video.

Jessica Stroia (pictured above on Rodes’ right), 23, is an Outlaw Girl and a cancer survivor.

“I was diagnosed at the age of 8,” Stroia said. “I was told I had six months to live.”

Although she’s been in remission for 15 years, Stroia said she must have magnetic resonance imaging performed every two years to be sure the cancer has not returned.

Rodes said that he will be visiting children’s hospitals between concerts on the tour and that some of the Outlaw Girls will accompany him. Stroia said she looks forward to meeting children with cancer.

“I want to give them hope,” she said.

To raise more money for cancer research, Rodes will sell a memento from the music video. The custom Ford F100 Rodes drives in “Tiny Red Thong” will be raffled June 7. Tickets are $2 individually or six for $10. Photos of the truck and information about the raffle can be found at eternityentertainment.net. Fans can also purchase tickets during each of Rodes’ upcoming concerts.

According to Rodes’ website, the artist is nominated for the Best Practices in Global Health Award. “I’m up against doctors and scientists,” Rodes said. “I’m the country rocker thrown in.”

For more information about Johnny Rodes and the Tour For A Cure, visit johnnyrodes.com.

To find out more about the nonprofit organizations Rodes is supporting, visit cancersucks.com and ctrf.org.