Toby Keith, playing Saturday at Cruzan Amphitheatre with Trace Adkins. (Taylor Jones / The Post)

No drinking, fighting or political songs?

It’s true he’s released three consecutive love songs (“She Never Cried in Front of Me”, “God Love Her” and “Lost You Anyway”) to country radio, but don’t worry.

He says “America’s Toughest Tour” with Trace Adkins, coming to Cruzan Amphitheatre on Saturday, will live up to its name.

“We’re back on track,” Keith said from his tour bus. “My next single, American Ride, is an up-tempo hard and heavy hitter,” but fans will have to wait until October for the new album.

Besides releasing another album and his annual USO tour in Iraq and Afghanistan, Keith Inc. is keeping busy: He’s opened another I Love This Bar and Grill in Mesa, Ariz., and started his own clothing label.
“It’s a never-ending cycle,” said the country superstar.

Keith worried that the recession would hurt ticket sales for the tour. “But we started the first show June 18 and it was just fine. I thought because of the recession people will stay home and do something in their own back yards. … It’s amazing that liquor and music are recession-proof.”

With Trace Adkins on the ticket, fans are getting two headliners for the price of one. And Keith and Adkins have always shared a fan base.

“We come from the same bars, and the same region,” said Keith. “He played the same bars we did, and if there were two bars that competed, he’d be in one and I’d be in the other. We came from the same honky-tonk family, and it’s amazing we had to wait this long to work together.”

Saturday’s show will have some surprises, Keith said, but it will end like every show has for years: with an encore of “American Soldier” and “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”. “It’s hard to put those songs anywhere else. I can’t open with them. I can’t just break them out in the middle somewhere, it just doesn’t fit. It’s hard to follow that.”

Those songs are extra-special, especially when Keith gets to play them for the troops. He’s performed 140 shows so far, some for the forward operating bases (FOBs) that don’t have running water, but they get a visit from Keith.

“When one of the commanders was introducing me, he said, ‘When our unit arrived here, we knew we might not get supplies for days and we might not see many helicopters, but we’ll see Toby Keith, I’ll bet, and he’s here today.’

“If it does one thing good, I’m going to do it. I hope it does 100 things, but if nothing else, it shows that I support them.

“I get briefed at every camp I go to. I sit down with the camp commander and have him brief us on what their job is there, why they were deployed there. Are you stopping smugglers, building schools, building infrastructure? Are you building a highway, providing security for that highway? What’s your goal here? They get their overhead projectors out and lay it on us and they’re proud to do it.”

But as strong as those soldiers are, and as brash as Keith is, and as diverse as his fans are, they share one thing: music.

“And what music brings to the table — all the emotions.”

The show: Toby Keith with Trace Adkins

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Cruzan Amphitheatre

601-7 Sansbury’s Way

Suburban West Palm Beach

Tickets: $20-$65.50

Box office: (877) 598-8497

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