Trace Adkins teams up with former ‘American Idol’ contestant Kellie Pickler for a summer tour that stops at Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal on Sept. 2.
Trace Adkins
Country traditionalist Trace Adkins and 2005 American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler took very different routes to country music stardom but those roads have converged this summer with a successful summer tour that lands at the Taj on Friday, Sept. 2.
Adkins, who has mixed it up with Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice, and done the occasional acting role including playing a drug-dealing biker in the recent film The Lincoln Lawyer, is touring in support of a brand new album, Proud To Be Here.
While best known for his Southern rock infused with blues and full tilt honky tonk, and despite his hit song “This Ain’t No Love Song,” part of his appeal has been his sensual love songs including “I Left Something Turned On At Home,” “Hot Mama” and the poignant “I’m Tryin.’”
Still, his uptempo material like “Honkeytonk Badonkadonk,” “Ladies Love Country Boys” and “Hillbilly Bone (a duet with Blake Shelton)” do tend to bring the crowd to their feet in concert.
Adkins, whose life has had plenty of ups and downs, including being shot in the heart, had another tragedy in June. While he was on tour in Alaska, his house burned down due to an electrical fire. Thankfully his wife and daughters, who were home, escaped without injury.
Once he checked in and made sure his family was fine, it was back to the road to promote his solid new album.
The hit single “Just Fishin’” is a lovely ballad about a father’s devotion to a daughter. The title track has some added meaning considering his recent fire, with its reference to “being on the right side of the dirt,” basically that he’s still here after some tough times in his life.
Other enjoyable tracks include the heartfelt mid-tempo “Days Like This,” the bluesy, sensual “Love Buzz” and the classic traditional ballad, “Always Gonna Be That Way.”
Kellie Pickler is also promoting new music on the tour, although her new album has yet to be released.
However, she has released the single “Tough,” a reference to early years of struggle, including a father who was in and out of jail and a mother who abandoned her when she was two years old. Stability, she says, came thanks to the grandparents that raised her.
Pickler will be making her acting debut in the fall in an episode of 90210. She will play the role of Sally, the country-singing cousin of local cowboy Austin (Justin Deeley).
Some people were surprised that Pickler was able to parlay a sixth-place finish on Idol into a successful recording career. In a recent interview, she admitted, “It’s wild to think of how much has happened. I’ve been so blessed since Idol. It’s been kind of a rollercoaster ride I haven’t got off. I don’t ever want to get off of it.”
That ride post-Idol began with her 2006 debut, Small Town Girl, which featured the hits “Red High Heels,” “I Wonder” and “Things That Never Cross A Man’s Mind.”
Her self-titled sophomore effort was also a success with “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful” and her first Top 10 hit, the sassy “Best Days of Your Life,” co-written with her good friend Taylor Swift.
Billy Currington is a country singer who has been climbing up the ladder of Nashville stardom at a steady pace, thanks to such hit songs as “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll,” “Don’t” “People Are Crazy,” “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right” and “Good Directions.” A personable native of Georgia, Currington chatted with AC Weekly from the road about his career and about his favorite beer — I mean I had to ask, didn’t I?
“I still have the passion for music. I still love to write, record and go on tour. What else am I going to do? I don’t want to retire. That’s no fun. If you have something to contribute, why not go out there and still give all that you got as opposed to just sitting in a chair and doing nothing?"
When the strapping 6’6” Trace Adkins takes off his black ten gallon hat and lets his long locks flow, he looks more like a rock idol than a good ol’ country boy. But although one of his popular hits talks about his “country music mixed with a little rock and a little blues,” it is his country side that dominates a show.
This season’s group of American Idols made its Atlantic City visit this year much earlier than in past years. Therefore, the Idols you saw on the TV show are pretty much the Idols you get on tour.
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Beyond Crystal Bowersox, most Idol fans feel that this season of American Idol is featuring less talent than previous seasons. I agree with that assessment — we certainly don’t have anything like the excitement generated by the Adam Lambert-Chris Allen battle last year or the David vs. David duel the year before.
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