Trace Adkins

It is one of the most powerful and distinctive voices in country music history, and fittingly enough it belongs to one of the genre's true rugged individualists. The booming baritone and unshakable sense of self have made Trace Adkins a star, but it is the indelible stamp of authenticity he brings to his life and music that have made his body of work so important to so many people.

In the past year, Trace has reaped many of the rewards he has sown with a decade of hard work and working-class anthems. He is thrilling packed houses across the country with one of the industry's highest-energy shows. He has been made a member of the Grand Ole Opry and of the board of directors of the Country Music Association. He has been a frequent guest on TV talkfests and shows including "King Of The Hill" and "Yes, Dear," and spent time as a national spokesman for KFC. Both his Comin' On Strong CD and Trace Adkins Video Hits have recently been certified platinum, and his Greatest Hits Collection, Volume I, which entered the charts at #1, is on the verge. His CD Chrome has also gone gold.

Now, with the release of "Songs About Me," he is poised for yet another breakthrough, this time to country's elite territory. The album is filled with the kind of grit and passion for which he has always been known, and the title track is the fastest-moving single of his career. The recognition may be greater than ever, but the formula behind it hasn't changed. "I record songs I can believe in and sing with conviction," he says. "It's that simple."

Over the years, that approach has helped him build one of country's most compelling catalogs, from breakthrough hits like "Every Light In The House Is On" and "This Ain't No Thinkin' Thing" through the powerful "I'm Tryin'," the sexually charged "Hot Mama" and the raucous "Rough & Ready," a slice of pure attitude captured for posterity.

"There's so much about this CD that is autobiographical," he says of the new project. "Even if we're able to release four singles on this record, every one would perfectly represent me and where I am. Take 'Metropolis'--that song kills me. It's about where I came from and exactly what has happened to me. 'Arlington' allows me to express a deep reverence and respect and to pay homage to veterans without making a political statement. And then there's 'Songs About Me.' I didn't even have to hear the second verse before I knew I wanted to cut it. I've been in that situation many times, telling people why country music is important, and this is my chance to stand up for this genre."

The first single and much of the album finds Trace working with long-time producer Scott Hendricks. It is a pairing that has wrought many of Trace's hits from the forge of relentless work. "Scott's known me long enough that he can tell when there's something left that he hasn't gotten yet," says Trace with a grin. "He'll keep at me until he gets it, and I'm not always happy about it, but in the end I can sit down after having taken a good Scott Hendricks vocal beating and listen back in the studio and go, 'OK, there it is. That's why I sang three hours on this one song.'"

Trace also cut three tracks--"My Heaven," "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" and "My Way Back"--with producer and guitar whiz Dann Huff, with whom he'd first worked on the Chrome project. "I ran into him at a CMA board meeting and we said to each other, 'We need to do something together again,' and we were able to make it happen. He's so talented in everything he brings to the table. It's an awesome experience to have the producer also be the best musician in the room."

Using both producers helped Trace achieve the rich texture he strives for every time he enters the studio. “I still have a Ronnie Milsap approach to making records,” he says. “I'm talking about the way he was able to include several different styles of music on his albums. On this album, I’ve got the uptempo, rowdy stuff, and then there are some songs here that remind me of something Glen Campbell would have done, that old 'Wichita Lineman' or 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' feeling. I want my records to be roller coaster rides that not only take people up and down but sideways now and then too.”

It is a philosophy that has given him a longevity that places him in an enviable position on the road. "It's great to be able to get up there now and do an hour or 75 minutes of songs they're familiar with," he says. For the first time, he is traveling this year with his own stage set, but as always, it is the long-haired, 6'6" singer who provides the spectacle.

"I don't do the same show on any two nights," he says. "My shows are predicated on what kind of environment I'm in. If it's a fair or festival setting it's toned done a little, then there's a different set for casinos, and a different kind of mindset. The arenas are the most complicated because everything comes together there--you've got kids and you've got older people and there's this energy that you just can't hardly control. Then there are beer joints--man, I love to get in one every two months or so. I have to have it, just to get in there and turn it loose and do those shows like I used to do 15 years ago."

Back then, Trace was tearing it up in the honky-tonks of Texas and Louisiana, following stints both in a gospel group and as a pipe fitter on an off-shore drilling rig. He moved to Nashville in 1992 and did construction work to survive while he sang at night and looked for his break.

The years of labor infuse his music, his outlook, and the way he's viewed by fans. "They know who I am, where I come from, what I'm about," he says. "I'm not some guy that started playing music when I was 16 and that's all I've ever done. I actually had to earn a living in the blue-collar world for many years before I started earning a living doing this."

The gritty reality of those days infuses his being to this day, and Nashville's best songwriters know they can send their most compelling work his way. "The writers in this town know who I am," he says, "and if they've got a song that pushes it a little, they think, 'I wouldn't send this to a lot of guys, but Trace would do this.' I get a lot of interesting stuff that way."

The attitude is part of his live performances as well. “I go out there and it is what it is,” he says. “If I feel like doing something, I do it. If I feel like saying something, I say it. If I feel like dancing, I do. If I don't, I don't. I let the night dictate what's going to happen, the vibe in the room or the arena or wherever it is. I don't go out there with a choreographed, programmed thing. Every night it's different. It's going to be what it's going to be, and that's the way I like it. It keeps me interested. If I knew exactly what the show was going to run like every night, I wouldn't even go out there.”

It has brought excitement to his stage work since the beginning. Trace had been in Nashville for three years when he was spotted playing in a bar by Hendricks, who signed him to Capitol. That one-of-a-kind voice and the knack for songs that dealt with love, loss, sex, and blue-collar realities head-on have done the rest. As the hits have come, Trace has remained one of country's most down-to-earth standard-bearers, and in the past few years fans and critics alike have begun to give him his due. Now, with the release of "Songs About Me," that process is about to carry him into elite territory.

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