Trace Adkins' 24-year career on full display at Kansas Crossing Casino

Sep. 22—PITTSBURG, Kan. — He's acted in Hollywood films ("The Lincoln Lawyer"), as well as the small screen ("My Name is Earl"); he's sat across from Donald Trump inside the boardroom on "Celebrity Apprentice" and lent his voice to animated shows such as "King of the Hill" and "American Dad!"

But make no mistake about it — 60-year-old Trace Adkins is at his best on stage, singing amusing or downright sad country ballads. He'll be performing both on Saturday, beginning at 7:30 p.m., on the Outdoor Corral stage at Kansas Crossing Casino. At story deadline, $49 general admission lawn tickets were still available for purchase via www.kansascrossingcasino.com.

Adkins is visiting Southeast Kansas for one night during his "The Way I Wanna Go" tour. As the tour name implies, he's at a point in his career where he can do anything he wants to do — and having a fine time doing so.

"I've got to the point where it's all up to me now," the multi-platinum award winner said recently. "I can do whatever I want ... and that's a beautiful place to be."

During country music's peak in the mid-1990s, Adkins made his debut in 1996 with his "Dreamin' Out Loud" album, which spawned four chart toppers, including "Every Light in the House" and "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing." Aside from these tunes, Adkins' booming baritone and 6-foot, 6-inch height helped him stand out from the pack of fellow male country performers at the time. His black cowboy hat — boosting his towering height by an additional 2 inches — only added to the singer performer's mystique.

At Kansas Crossing, Adkins will mix some of his familiar early tunes — "I Left Something Turned On at Home," "Help Me Understand," "There's a Girl in Texas," "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" and "Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone" — with new songs from his 2021 album, "The Way I Wanna Go," his 17th studio album featuring 25 songs, including "Heartbreak Song" and "Where I am Today."

"I am at the top of my game right now," Adkins said. "I'm better at this than I've ever been in my life, and I like the way my voice sounds better now than 25 years ago."

During those 24 years, Adkins has sold over 11 million albums and charted 37-plus singles, with 14 of those songs reaching Billboard's Top 10.

"I love where I'm at, I really do," Adkins said. "I've had the perfect career, and I don't know where my place is gonna be when the history of what I did is written. But 90% of the time, I said what I wanted to say and stuck to my guns, and did what I wanted to do. ... and I'm gonna go out the way I wanna go out."