Recently, The natural state welcomed country music artist, Trace Adkins on a wonderful fall Saturday night on October 1st performing at the Eastern Arkansas Community College Fine Arts Center in Forrest City, Arkansas!

“I’m really happy to be here tonight!” said Adkins as he had a warm welcome to the stage. The country artist shared that Forrest City, Arkansas is actually the halfway point between where his family is in Louisiana to Nashville, so he stops in Forrest City, every so often while traveling. “To come play here, this is really cool. Eastern Arkansas Community College, thank y’all for having us and everybody’s been so kind to us today.” said Adkins. 

Unquestionably, Trace Adkins put on a fantastic show and performed several of his songs including (This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing, Songs About Me, Just Fishin’, You’re Gonna Miss This, Marry For Money, Big Time, Hot Mama, Every Light In The House, There’s A Girl In Texas, Still A Soldier, Ladies Love Country Boys, I Left Something Turned On At Home, and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk! 

Along with that, Adkins performed a few new songs from his latest album released in 2021 entitled, The Way I Wanna Go. The songs he performed from the record included I Should Let You Go, Heartbreak Song, Got It Down, Honey Child and performed the title track, The Way I Wanna Go for his encore. He also performed a couple cover songs including Just A Gigolo by David Lee Roth, Come To Poppa by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band and The House Is Rockin’ by Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

Trace Adkins recently celebrated his 25th Anniversary of being in the music industry last year and in celebration of the special milestone, he released a new album, The Way I Wanna Go, which featured 25 brand new songs. Before performing the title track, The Way I Wanna Go, which is also the name of his tour, the country artist shared why everything has that title. “The reason I named everything that was because I look back over my career of 25 years and I believe that I went the way I wanted to go. I’ve sang the songs I wanted to sing, I did the things I wanted to do,” continues Adkins, “As long as you have my back, I’ll have yours (speaking of his fans). I think it speaks to everybody.” 

In honor of Trace Adkins’ 25th Anniversary as well, he started performing his very first single released in 1996 again during his shows entitled, There’s A Girl In Texas. He shared the story about how the song came to be and how the meaning of the song has changed for him. “When we started doing the song again, I realized the words to this song mean more to me now. It means something different but it means more to me now than when I wrote this song 27 years ago.” said Adkins. 

It’s always been well known Adkins has been very supportive to those in the military. The country singer talked about that during his show and about how he continues to pay tribute to them in his music. “We actually put a song on every album that we do that pays tribute to the men and women that serve because we appreciate them. Truly the most rewarding stuff that I’ve had a chance to do in my career has been work that I’ve done with veteran’s organizations like Wounded Warrior Project (and more),” continues Adkins, “It’s been my absolute privilege to associate with heroes. People ask me why, ‘Why do you do so much stuff with the military and veterans and everything.’ If you have a opportunity, if you have a chance to hangout with heroes, you should do that. Maybe some of it will rub off on you. To anybody that’s here tonight who may have served, God Bless You, we love you.” 

Trace Adkins also talked about his new television show he’s currently starring in entitled, Monarch airing on FOX and shared a story about spending some time with his friend, the late great, Bucks Owens. “When I was just starting out, I went to Bakersfield to visit the radio station that day. They were taking me all over the country to visit radio stations and so I went to Bakersfield and Buck Owens was there that day. It was raining, it hardly ever rains in Bakersfield but anyway I got there that day and it was raining, so he wasn’t playing golf,” continues Adkins, “He wanted me to go into his office with him and we sat down and he said, ‘Trace, Son, That low note that you can hit, you should do that in every song cause that’s really all you got going for you.’ And he was serious!” jokingly said Adkins. “He was so honest, I loved that about him.”

Along with that, Adkins talked about how much he appreciates his fans supporting him throughout his music career. “I just want you to know that I know that the only reason I get to continue doing what I do is because you allow me to and I don’t take that for granted. Thank you for coming out tonight, we appreciate it!” said the artist. “Love being here in Forrest City, Arkansas with some good country people, it makes me feel at home.” Trace Adkins definitely performs an amazing show! He was entertaining, shared some interesting stories from his music career and did a wonderful performance! If you’re a fan of Trace Adkins, you certainly don’t want to miss the chance to see him live in concert!! 

Be sure to follow Trace Adkins on his social media including on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at his website, www.traceadkins.com. 

Have you seen Trace Adkins in concert before? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment below or on social media!