Trace Adkins has released his 10th album, 'X'. (AP)

“Hey, I just hope they remember me for something.”

But that would be a tremendous oversimplification of an artist who has more layers than a wedding cake.

His 10th album, X, released in November, may be his best work. It shows his depth, musically, emotionally, lyrically and vocally.

From “Muddy Water”, the gospel-tinged up-tempo first single, to the hilarious “Marry for Money”, to the super-serious ballad “Till the Last Shot’s Fired,” where he’s joined by the West Point Cadet Glee Club, it’s a rocky ride.

Listen to Janis’ interview with Trace Adkins:

“That’s the way I make records,” he said from home in Nashville as he was getting ready to hit the road with Toby Keith for America’s Toughest Tour, which stops at Cruzan Amphitheatre on Saturday. “There has to be some levity mixed in with everything else. Life is peaks and valleys. It hits a high note and then it takes you back down.”

Adkins’ life was full of peaks in 2008. He got a string of nominations from the CMA, ACM and CMT Music Awards for his beautiful ballad, “You’re Gonna Miss This”. He lost last week’s CMT award for Best Male Video to Brad Paisley.

“That song had been nominated in every award show leading up to that one and I had lost every one. I’m not going to lose any sleep about it. I’m just going to get on the bus and do another show. You just can’t worry about that stuff.

“If I had won an award for that video, it would be so ironic because literally we didn’t have a budget from the record label. They said, ‘You know it’s never been our policy to make videos for songs off greatest hits’ albums,’ and I said, ‘Well we’re going to do it on this one.’ ”

Adkins also tackled reality TV in 2008, ultimately losing Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” to Piers Morgan. He knew every word, every action, would be filmed, and behaved accordingly.

“I was mindful that I was there representing institutions a lot bigger than myself: the Grand Ole Opry and my family, and I wasn’t going to act the fool and bring dishonor to anybody.”

Adkins had hoped to win money for his charity, FAAN (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network), and he did manage to bring in about $250,000. But Adkins says, “I think much more important than the money was just the awareness, bringing attention to it and putting it on a national stage.”

Not only do more people recognize the 6-foot-6-inch Adkins since the show, thankful parents approach him “almost every day. Just recently we went to Disney World and this lady comes up and there were already tears rolling down her face, and she was just thanking me for what I’ve done.

“There are so many people in this country that are simply uneducated about the severity of food allergies. Now a lot more people know and I’m happy I was able to contribute a little bit to that.”

He’s also proud of his latest album: “There’s a couple of things on here that are different from anything I’ve done before, like “I Can’t Outrun You”. It’s probably the first time I’ve done anything that sparse.”

But “Hillbilly Rich” is typical Adkins: “It’s fun and funny, but there’s that underlying truth. A bunch of the guys I know in this business are just like me, country boys that got a little lucky and we got some money and got some hillbilly bling.”

That Adkins earned that bling by being true to himself makes it even sweeter. “They actually try to get me to do a different thing every now and then, and I say no, it’s not up for discussion. What I wear and how I look and whether or not I shave or cut my hair, you people can’t tell me what to do.”

TRACE VS. TOBY:
WHO’S TOUGHEST?

TRACE: I think I’ve got an inch or two on Toby, but Toby’s a big old boy. You know, I don’t want to find out and I don’t think he does either, but I’ll say this: I’ve reached one of those milestones in my life as a man where I realize that if I do get into a scrap with somebody I better kill him in 30 seconds, or I’m done. I just don’t have the stamina. But to quote Toby, I’m as good once as I ever was.

TOBY: He admits he’s getting a little long in the tooth, huh? We both lift and stay in pretty good shape. Here’s what I say: You don’t want to call your friend out. But if you put up a field of 64 like March Madness, they’d give Trace and me a first-round bye. We’d be a pretty good tag team in WWF.

— Janis Fontaine

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