We haven’t heard a new single from Trace Adkins since 2013’s “Watch The World End”, which featured Colbie Caillat. So, what has Adkins been up to for the last three years? Well, in between touring and releasing a Christmas record, Adkins has also been dealing with personal issues, like his return to rehab and his divorce. Adkins released his Christmas record, The King’s Gift, in October 2013, and then embarked on a well received tour to promote the record. Unfortunately, sometime after that, he fell off the wagon, which resulted in a stint in rehab. Shortly after that, it was announced that Adkins and his wife Rhonda were calling it quits. Sadly, Adkins’ career, like his personal life, seems to have taken a turn for the worst these past few years, with his last three singles not even cracking the Top 20, and the one featuring Caillat not charting at all. This leads to the inevitable question: is this the end of Trace’s run? Or merely just a bump in the road?
As an Adkins fan myself, I certainly hope that this is merely a bump in the road, and that we’ll be hearing a lot more from Trace in the future. I was an early fan of Adkins, having grown up on 90s and early 2000s country radio, when Adkins was at his prime, musically. I loved his early hits like “Every Light in the House”, “This Ain’t No Thinkin’ Thing”, “Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone”, “Then They Do”, and “Songs About Me”. That may be why I’ve had a lot of trouble getting on board with his last few singles. They just aren’t up to par with the rest of his musical catalogue. His 2011 single, “Just Fishin’” was the last single I really liked from Adkins, and radio obviously agreed as it reached #6 on the charts.
Adkins has been quite upfront about his views on the cycle of radio time, admitting that artists all go through a cycle where, for a few years they’re on top and receiving lots of airplay, then they start to fade out and drop off of the radio radar. He has said that he’s fine with that cycle and doesn’t plan to fight it, yet his last few singles seem to tell a different story. It appears that he’s trying to compete with the younger artists, even changing up his sound and releasing songs that favor the “current formula”. But alas, it didn’t serve him well. Fans just aren’t swallowing it, and that’s simply because we know for a fact that Trace is capable of so much better!
Adkins has released a brand new single, “Jesus and Jones”, which serves as the lead single from his upcoming album, which has yet to be named or given a release date. When I first heard the title of the single, I admit to being curious and a little excited. Surely, I thought, a song referencing both Jesus and George Jones has to be a good one, right? Sadly, I was wrong. The single is a mediocre, generic tune that finds the narrator trying to find the middle ground between being a good, clean living Christian and a hell-raising sinner. The single uses Jesus, aka the Christian Savior, and George Jones, aka country music king and well know hell-raiser in his day, to illustrate the opposite sides.
This theme has been done many times over in country music, and rightly so, with it being a very popular subject. Because it is a common theme that has been done almost as much as heartbreak songs, you have to get creative with the lyrical story and the delivery, otherwise it just feels very same ol’, same ol’. “Jesus and Jones” isn’t creative and its delivery is anything but exciting or believable.
Now, please Trace fans, put down the pitch forks and torches, because, believe me, I’m actually on your side. I love Trace, always have. I love his deep, rich baritone, his confident personality, and his music, but let’s face facts; this song just isn’t up to par with his earlier music. This song is really just a result of lazy songwriting and bad production. You can’t blame it on the theme, because when done well, the theme is a great and relatable one. Plenty of artists have pulled it off beautifully; Big and Rich’s “Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace”, Brian Randle’s “Heaven and Hank”, Eric Church’s “Like Jesus Does”, and Eric Lee Beddingfield’s “The Gospel According to Jones”, all come to mind.
Let’s just hope that this isn’t an accurate representation of what’s to come from Adkins in the future, as although I admit it is a step up from his last four singles, it is still far under what he’s capable of. I am curious to hear what his next album sounds like. Here’s hoping it’s more like “Then They Do”, “Songs About Me”, and “You’re Gonna Miss This”, than “Jesus and Jones”.
Originally posted here.
