Five Questions with Trace Adkins
Trace Adkins is a very busy man these days. In addition to releasing his 11th studio album, Love Will…, on Tuesday (5/14), he’s currently competing on NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” to raise money for the American Red Cross.
Throughout his career, Adkins has sold more than 10 million albums. In addition, he’s an accomplished television personality, actor, author, spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Program, the American Red Cross and has performed seven USO Tours.
CountryMusicIsLove recently caught up with the Country hitmaker to discuss the new album, reality television, and more. See what he had to say below…
Five Questions with Trace Adkins
CMIL: What prompted you to release an album full of love songs?
TA: It was just the fact that I had eight love songs already recorded. I had the album finished in August last year. Eight of those songs were love songs and then I had the funny ones and the redneck ones and all that stuff that I always do on my records. Then we had to put the album on hold because ‘The Apprentice’ thing. In the meantime, I hooked back up with Frank Rogers and he and I rekindled our relationship in the studio and cut three more love songs. So then I was like, ‘Okay, now I’ve got 11 love songs,’ so I’ll save those [others] for something else and just put out an album of nothing but love songs. It’s not like I set out to do this. It just kind of ended up being that way.
CMIL: What was it like working with the band Exile on the song ‘Kiss You All Over?’
TA: That was one of those surreal days in the studio where I’m in the studio with guys who are iconic to me. It takes me back to 1978 when I was a junior in high school. We’d finish football practice and we’d go down to the drive-in and play pinball and shoot pool. That song would play half a dozen times in an afternoon. That song was a hit around the world. It was like “Gangnam Style.” It was that big of a song around the world at that time and then to end up in the studio with those guys… They weren’t just a one hit wonder. They’ve had a great career, then they had a country career and then they all had separate careers. They’re all very accomplished. Les’ voice is so pure. That was a lot of fun.
CMIL: Can you tell us about your song, “Watch The World End,” and how you ended up recording it with Colbie Caillat?
TA: Well, Brett Eldredge wrote that song with Jeremy Spillman. Brett is good friends with Colbie [Caillat] and when I was thinking about, ‘Okay, who is a female I want to sing on this song with?’ It’s hard for me to pick a female vocalist to sing with because of this [points to his mouth] — the contrast between myself and a female vocalist can be so great that it doesn’t work so you kind of have to be careful. I thought that with that sultry kind of thing that she has about her voice that it would work and Brett’s like, ‘I know her!’ Which was good ‘cause I didn’t know her.
CMIL: Would you ever consider appearing on another reality show?
TA: Probably not. Unless is had the charitable aspect to it, I probably wouldn’t. I couldn’t see myself doing ‘Dancing With The Stars’ or ‘Survivor’ or ‘Amazing Race.’ I think it would have to have that aspect to it for me.
CMIL: What are your thoughts on the current state of Country music?
TA: I think it’s great. The more popular country music becomes as a genre the better it is for old cats like me who are going to retire out here at the Grand Ole Opry. Let’s pack that joint every weekend. If the new cats are broadening our horizons and reaching out to some audiences that maybe we haven’t reached before it’s not going to hurt us any.
Fans can keep up with Trace Adkins on Facebook and Twitter. His album Love Will… is available HERE.
