I mean, I don't know how many years now we've been drilling off-shore, but you've had one case where this has happened in all those years, and all these tens of thousands of wells that have been drilled out there. All that stuff is made out of petroleum, so don't just think it's gasoline.Īdkins: Absolutely. And people think, 'If we just quit using petroleum in our cars.' The day we stop using petroleum, you'd better find a way to make plastics, all kinds of medicines and clothes that we wear and the shoes that we wear, the houses that we live in. I've seen the hurt, because it's like a big family.ĬNN: Oil is headed for the shore in the Gulf.Īdkins: It's just the price of doing business in the petroleum world, unfortunately. 170-something men, I think, they lost on that drill ship. I went to work for Golden Marine drilling company, and it was right after they had lost a drill ship called the Java Sea. It was something that we were always cognizant of - always knew there was a possibility. (Chuckles)ĬNN: Back in the day, you were an oil rigger.Īdkins: I worked in the oil field for 10 years.ĬNN: Did you ever imagine something like this disaster could happen?Īdkins: Sure. Simple as that.ĬNN: Sounds like a nice incentive to not revisit that lifestyle.Īdkins: I'm not saying that I wouldn't ever, but I won't do it again unless my accountant tells me I can. (He has five daughters)ĬNN: What is it that really turned the corner for you?Īdkins: Well, when I quit drinking, really - if you want to get down to brass tacks, that's when things started to get a lot better for me. How'd that all turn around?Īdkins: Maturity, age, wisdom and a good woman - all those things. Until I decide that I don't want to do this anymore, I'm going to approach every day like it's the last day of my career.ĬNN: The beginning was a bit of a rough ride. Trace Adkins: Well, because we keep working hard. He recently spoke with CNN about his career and the Gulf Coast oil disaster.ĬNN: You're 48, yet your career seems to be on the upswing. Seems everything in Adkins' world is super-sized, even his opinions. The two kick off a tour together this weekend in Holmdel, New Jersey.Įarlier in the video shoot, the ballroom of an old hotel was turned into an enormous bedroom set. His ninth studio album, 'Cowboy's Back in Town,' will be released in August on Showdog-Universal, a label co-owned by kindred spirit Toby Keith. His new single, 'This Ain't No Love Song,' blares from the playback deck.

The director summons him back to the set.

'Until we find another alternative, that's what we gotta do,' he says during a break in the filming of his new music video. Even in the wake of the deaths of 11 men in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, even in the wake of the oil spill that's gumming up the Gulf of Mexico, he defends offshore drilling. Not bad for a guy who spent his 20s as an oil rigger off the coast of his native Louisiana. In the meantime, his career keeps gaining momentum - at age 48. This is a man of strong convictions, a former hellraiser who straightened up, stopped drinking and suddenly found himself an icon of integrity, as seen during his 2008 stint on 'The Celebrity Apprentice,' where he came in second. But when he speaks, he's generally pretty serious.

When he sings, it's in a baritone that's sometimes tender, sometimes ironic and occasionally raucous. 'Everything has to be custom made for him, even his jeans.'Īt 6' 6', Trace Adkins is an imposing figure. Pasadena, California (CNN) - The stylist is holding up a black blazer that's easily as big as a Hefty trash bag.

He's a former oil field worker and says he supports offshore drilling.

His ninth studio album, 'Cowboy's Back in Town,' will be released in August.

Country singer Trace Adkins is gaining momentum in his career.

Trace adkins new album