Somewhere in America, Trace Adkins is singing. Over the airwaves, through the internet, live and in person, or in the heads of millions of fans, his songs tell the stories of the land. He sings:
There ain’t no good news on the 6 o’clock news these days, But don’t you get down, take a look around, It’s all over the place. It could be Carolina, could be California, There’s a dirt road class with a shirt on their back; If you ask, they’ll put it right on ya. They say the world is endin’, But from where I’m standin’, there’s still a jug to share, Couple bucks to spare, still got a prayer, Somewhere in America, Somewhere in America.
The song, titled “Somewhere in America,” from Mr. Adkins’s 2021 double album “The Way I Wanna Go,” is an anthem to the endurance of ordinary men and women in the face of upheaval.
“For me, it was a message of hope. With all the insanity we seem to be exposed to on a daily basis, there’s still good common-sense people out there doing the right thing, helping a neighbor out when they need help, giving you the shirt off their back if you need it,” said Mr. Adkins by phone from his home in Nashville.
Though you can’t tell from their outer appearance, there are heroes among those common-sense folk: our country’s military veterans. “I believe the word hero gets thrown round too often, but these veterans are actually heroes, and if you have the chance to associate with heroes, you should do that. Maybe some of it will rub off on you.”
Honoring the Military
A lot of it must have rubbed off on Mr. Adkins by now. Over the years, the 61-year-old country music star has devoted a great deal of time and energy to military and veteran causes. Through the United Service Organizations (USO), he has performed for troops around the globe. In 2010, he formed an association with the Wounded Warrior Project, and today he advocates for better veteran health care and higher compensation for military personnel. “It’s probably the most important thing I do. It’s been the greatest privilege of my career to be associated with these men and women. I don’t see that ending anytime soon,” he said.
The devotion flows both ways. Once, on a USO tour in Afghanistan, a fan came up to Mr. Adkins and raised his arm to show a tattoo of one of Mr. Adkins’s lyrics. “Just the other night, I was out to dinner and a veteran went out of his way to thank me. I always feel strange when that happens. I want to say, ‘No, thank you.’”
For Veteran’s Day 2023, Mr. Adkins encourages all Americans to “at least be aware” of veterans. As he sang in his 2021 song “Empty Chair,” veterans don’t talk about themselves or cut a high profile. They don’t brag about their service. Sometimes it’s hard to know them. “But if you see a guy and he’s unmistakably a vet, give him a pat on the back or a kind word. It means a lot. If you want to go further than that, get involved in veterans organizations. But at least be aware.”
A Life of Surprises
Mr. Adkins got an unusually late start to his singing career. Born in Sarepta, Louisiana, in 1962, his early life was tumultuous. At 17, Mr. Adkins was involved in a head-on collision with a bus that resulted in the need for plastic surgery on his nose. He was an avid high school football player, but an injury kicked him out of that game. At 20, Mr. Adkins took a job as a “roughneck,” a worker on oil drilling rigs. An accident on one of the rigs severed a finger, which was re-attached slightly bent. He had to re-learn its use on the guitar, which he’d played since the age of 10.
He worked the oil fields for 10 years, meanwhile playing and singing with a local band. But it wasn’t enough, and finally, in 1992, Mr. Adkins moved to Nashville. Even then, injury followed him, and this time it was nearly fatal. In 1994, in an argument over Mr. Adkins’s drinking habit, his then-wife (since divorced) pulled a gun on him. He attempted to disarm her, but the gun discharged, and a bullet went through Mr. Adkins’s heart and lungs. Incredibly, surgeons saved his life. (Since then, Mr. Adkins has successfully addressed his drinking habit.)
He survived the bullet, yet he knew that, nearing 35 years of age, it was do-or-die for his singing career. “I’d given myself a 35 deadline. If I didn’t make it in Nashville by then, I was going back to the oil fields, the only other work I knew.”
Mr. Adkins signed to a label at age 33, and at 35 he released his first huge hit, “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing.” “I just made it under the wire,” he said. Since then, he has released 13 studio albums and six greatest hits compilations, many of them rated platinum or gold.
Never a man to stand still, Mr. Adkins started acting a few years ago, culminating in a starring role in the 2022 Fox series “Monarch.” His co-star: Susan Sarandon. Mr. Adkins’s well-known conservatism and Ms. Sarandon’s liberalism caused some to speculate that they would not get along. Not true. “I don’t bring that stuff to work and neither did she. Susan knew coming in that our politics didn’t align, but what’s the point? It wasn’t germane to the task at hand, so we just didn’t go there. We had a great time, and we still check in with each other,” he said.
His success in “Monarch” has caused some fans to worry that Mr. Adkins will give up singing for acting. Mr. Adkins answered enigmatically: “I’m the kind of guy who’s always gonna stick his foot in the door, and if I like what I see, I’ll probably walk in. The vocal cords are a muscle like any other, and at some point that means diminishing returns. I leave all options on the table. If I can’t perform 100 percent in something, then I’m done.”
For now at least, Mr. Adkins is a country music star who also acts. And underneath all that, he still thinks of himself as a roughneck: “I’m not a singer who used to roughneck; I’m a roughneck who sings now. It still defines who I am, my work ethic, and my intolerance for incompetence.”
Mr. Adkins is currently making the last appearances in his “Somewhere in America 2023” tour. “I just keep going until something stops me, and that hasn’t happened yet. That’s the way I was brought up and that’s the way I am. You’re gonna have to kill me to stop me.”
This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
