http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001GQACGE/almosthuman
NASHVILLE (Billboard) – Country star Trace Adkins' fall itinerary is keeping him busy on multiple fronts. He'll complete a USO trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, tour with Alan Jackson and promote the film "An American Carol."
If he has time, he might tune in Wednesday nights to the roughneck reality show "Black Gold," on cable network TruTV, to hear his theme song play. And on November 25, he'll cap off the year with the release of "X," his 10th album for Capitol Records Nashville.
Adkins is one of the few performers to move beyond recordings and concerts into movies, awards shows and reality TV without losing his country-music credibility. After appearing on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice" -- and withstanding the judgment of Donald Trump to finish second -- his "You're Gonna Miss This" topped Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and he earned Country Music Association (CMA) Awards nominations in the categories of single, song and video of the year.
"This has been something that I've always wanted to do," Akins says of acting in films, "but my music comes first on my career list of priorities."
So far, his instincts have been good -- ratings for his "Apprentice" finale totaled 12.1 million viewers -- and Adkins plans to continue moonlighting.
RELUCTANT AT FIRST
Adkins admits that initially he was hesitant to do "The Celebrity Apprentice."
"My managers and everybody had to convince me," he says. "The last thing in the world that I wanted people to think is that I'm just this hack and my career is in the crapper, so the last option I have is reality TV. I was terrified that people would really think that, because that simply was not the case."
Despite his trepidations, Adkins is glad he did the show. "I'm not a fan of reality TV. I think most of it is incredibly silly, but ("The Celebrity Apprentice") benefiting charity the way it did, I think gave it a touch of nobility and some credibility." (Adkins' daughter, Brianna, suffers from extreme food allergies, so he used the show to raise money for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, an organization for which he serves as spokesman.)
After his "Apprentice" stint ended, audiences could find Adkins on the big screen, portraying the Angel of Death in the film "An American Carol," a comedy directed by David Zucker ("Airplane!") and marketed as a conservative alternative for moviegoers.
"I read the script and thought it was hilarious, and I felt that the Angel of Death was something I could pull off," Adkins says. "It was an opportunity to get on the set of a real movie with real production dollars."
Zucker says that "when casting the Angel of Death, I knew we needed someone with a scary and imposing presence." At 6 foot 6 inches tall, Adkins fit the bill.
Adkins plans to continue blending screen roles with his music career. He says there has been some discussion about doing a CMT show, and he wouldn't mind making a return visit as a special guest on "The Celebrity Apprentice."
HEAVY AND LIGHT
Adkins' mix of uptempo songs with sensitive ballads like "The Rest of Mine," "Arlington" and "Then They Do" has made him one of country's most successful artists since he debuted in 1996 with the top 20 hit "There's a Girl in Texas."
Among the tracks on his new album, "X," are an R&B-flavored ballad ("Let's Do That Again"), a hardcore country examination of the perils of alcohol ("Sometimes a Man Takes a Drink") and "Happy to Be Here," an autobiographical tune on which Adkins sings, "I shouldn't be alive/I've seen the other side/All I can say is I'm just happy to be here."
It's an apt statement from a man whose second wife shot him through the heart and lungs during an argument. (He has sustained numerous other injuries, including nearly losing a finger in an oil rig accident.)
"I will admit it's one that I was a little uncomfortable and a little hesitant about putting on the album," Adkins says, "because I don't want to make hay out of that stuff. I don't dwell on it and don't talk about it all the time. The past is the past. I guess it helped maybe develop my character."
But the album also ventures into the upbeat, humorous types of songs that Adkins' fans have come to expect. Some of his biggest hits are lighthearted tracks like "Honky-Tonk Badonkadonk," "I Left Something Turned On at Home," "Hot Mama," "Rough & Ready" and "Ladies Love Country Boys."
"If somebody tells you that the sensitive ballads are more fun to perform than the uptempo rockers that get people on their feet and make them throw their panties onstage, they are lying," Adkins says. "That's just the bottom line."
http://chitika.com/publishers.php?refid=almosthuman99
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