Ribfest gets Renaissance man in Trace Adkins

Despite the long hair and sleeveless shirts, Trace Adkins isn't your typical west Texas roughneck.

Musician, author, pundit, inmate and game-show contestant are just some of the other labels that fit the 46-year-old country star who's headlining the last day of Naperville's Ribfest this weekend.

Adkins is scheduled to take Ribfest's main stage at 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Knoch Park, near West Street and Hillside Road in Naperville.

Ahead of his gig, Adkins ruminates about his colorful life, his music, the size of his belt buckles, sobriety and his second-place finish on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" show earlier this year.

Q. Any surprises in store for your Ribfest show Sunday?

A. I hope not.

Q. Do you feel you have to play all your hits?

A. I know as a fan myself if I go see an act and they don't play those songs that caused me to be a fan in the first place or led me to be a fan, I'll be disappointed. I understand that and I keep that in mind and try to do most of the stuff that was a hit for us.

Q. How do you keep those songs interesting to play for yourself?

A. I don't have a problem with that. It's fun every night and as long as it's fun, that keeps it interesting. If you're having a good time and not bored, it's going to be interesting. I'm always having a good time up there on stage, so I never get bored with it.

Q. What are you doing on your bus before a show to entertain yourself?

A. I'll just be watching the news or something. I'll have a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette and hit the stage.

Q. How'd you get roped into doing "Celebrity Apprentice?"

A. Actually, the guy that was booking the talent used to book talent on "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," so I got to know him through my appearances on that show. When he was looking for talent to do this "Apprentice" thing, I turned him down and told him I didn't have any interest in doing that, but he knew exactly what to do to get me to do it so he called my wife. He explained what an opportunity it would be to raise awareness for the charity that we've worked with for the last six years, which is the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.

Q. Did you expect to stick around as long as you did?

A. Nah, man. I thought I'd go up there and be a fish out of water, hang out a couple of episodes and get a plug in or two for the food allergy cause. Then I guess about halfway through the thing, you know, I kind of said there's no reason why I couldn't go on and win this thing.

Q. Who was your favorite on the show and your least favorite?

A. Well Piers (Morgan) was my least favorite and it would be hard to pick my favorite. I enjoyed hanging out with Lennox (Lewis), and Stephen Baldwin was fun. Baldwin made me laugh all the time, he's a goofball. I liked all those guys. So I had a good time with them, but I didn't really find many endearing qualities about Piers.

Q. You got arrested for DUI a couple years ago and eventually went to rehab. Are you still sober?

A. Oh yeah, almost six years.

Q. Is getting arrested for DUI the scariest thing ever?

A. Oh no. Umm, I've been arrested a few times. That wasn't the first time. I've been in a lot scarier jails than the one in Williamson County (Tenn.). I've been in jail in Texas and that jail in Williamson County wasn't very scary.

Q. Your book is filled with your thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. Are you ever afraid you'll turn off some of your fans who might not agree with you on a certain issue?

A. Most of my fans have gleaned through my music and interviews what I'm about. They pretty much know who I am and what I'm all about by now. I don't really hold anything back, so nothing should really surprise anyone who reads the book.

Q. How big is your biggest belt buckle?

A. I don't have a real big one. I don't know. I've never measured. I don't have any of those huge belt buckles.

Q. So when it comes to eating at Ribfest are you going to have the ribs or a pulled pork sandwich?

A. I may partake in both.