Trace Adkins knows of which he sings

Heartbreak is no stranger to the up-and-coming country crooner, who performs at Raymond James Stadium Saturday night.

By MIKE READLING

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2000

Ask Trace Adkins who he is and he'll give a simple answer. Perhaps too simple.

"I'm a Southern gentleman. Polite, hospitable and respectful," said Adkins, who performs after the Mutiny's game against the MetroStars on Saturday.

In truth, the 38-year-old country music star is far more than that.

He is also a former college football player and gospel singer who spent the beginning of his career working in offshore oil fields and has been known to turn his 6-foot-6, 250-pound frame into a liquid dancing machine during live performances.

Southern gentleman, maybe, but feel free to throw in award-winning artist, sensitive songwriter, avid golfer and devoted father. And he is one of those little-town-to-bright-lights stories for which Nashville is so famous.

Adkins grew up in Sarepta, La., (pop. 886) about 50 miles north of Shreveport. After high school he went on to Louisiana Tech, where he played football and studied petroleum engineering.

But riding out hurricanes on swaying oil rigs in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico wasn't Adkins' dream. He was a singer who grew up listening to his father's Merle Haggard and Buck Owens records. Adkins was headed to Nashville.

He signed a deal with Capitol Records in 1994 that led to his first hit, There's a Girl in Texas, which reached the Top 20 in 1996. He followed that up with a No. 3 smash and then two consecutive No. 1 hits, (This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing and I Left Something Turned On at Home.

He was named the Academy of Country Music's New Male Vocalist in 1997 and TNN/Music City News Male Star of Tomorrow in 1998.

Much of Adkins' music is drawn from his own experiences. Married with a daughter, Adkins has three ex-wives. He's also accident-prone. He fractured his ankle after stepping in a hole and cut the tips of his fingers off while rolling a boulder on his ranch. His nose was reattached after a highway crash. He also survived a bullet through his heart after his second wife accidentally shot him.

"It's a lot easier to sing with conviction, passion and emotion," said Adkins, "if it's something I've experienced."

At a glance
Trace Adkins performs after the 7 p.m. Tampa Bay Mutiny vs. MetroStars game on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium, 4201 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. Game/concert tickets are $12-$21. For information, call (813) 289-6811.