Proud to Be Here

Prime Cuts: Just Fishin', Days Like This, Always Gonna Be That Way

On his tenth album of original material Adkins has turned red necked to red eyed. No longer a mischievous lout, "Proud to be Me" finds a mature and sensitive Adkins. While this pony tailed macho man's previous disc "Cowboy's Back in Town" was a high octane belligerent effort filled with mostly rockers, "Proud to Be Here" is a reflective collection rifled with ruminations on true love, family life and the glorious bliss of living in the South. And for fans who have been beguiled by how Adkins' deep gruff baritone can cause a ballad to light up the heart, there are spades of them here for indulgence. Adkins is also wise enough not to fall into the perennial trap of penning too many tracks himself and thus diluting his song writing prowess. This time round Adkins has only written one song in the standard version and two more cuts on the deluxe version. As a result of garnering songs from some of Nashville's most able scribes such as Aaron Barker, Casey Beathard, Rivers Rutherford, Ray Scott, David Lee Murphy and Dallas Davidson, the quality of the songs are sturdier in their melodic structures and the lyrics show more depth and dimension.

Of the songs that really cause the heart to flutter, "Just Fishin'" is a turbo. Calling to mind Adkins' smash "You're Gonna Miss This," "Just Fishin'" is another brilliant father/daughter song that trumps on the details of how the protagonist tries to spend time and love with his daughter. To hear a big man like Adkins singing about ballet shoes, training wheels and kittens only testifies to the transforming power of a father's love. The gorgeous piano introduction to "Always Gonna Be That Way" leads us to heart warming romantic ode where Akins extols the virtues of small town living and eternal love. Idyllic, romantic and relaxing is the care free ballad "Days Like This" where Adkins softly croons "If the world's going to hell, let it go, I'll just blow it a kiss/Don't Want to think about things like that on days like this."

More precious moments are recalled on the title track "Proud to Be Here." A philosophical musings of how to live one's life with faith and meaning, "Proud to be Here" ought to be our personal anthem. Ray Scott, a brilliant traditionalist himself, co-writes with Philip Moore "Poor Folks"--one of the album's most traditional-sounding songs-- set on a slow country waltz pace. Nevertheless, producers Mark Wright and Kenny Beard do make concessions for radio. "That's What You Get," is a standard radio affair--a jaunty riled up number with an engaging melodic line and a chorus of female chorus to add heft to the chorus. "Damn You Bubba" finds Adkins strutting his rotund "badonkadunk" persona over an over-the-top rocking romp. Another mendacious misstep is the guitar heavy radio targeted "Million Dollar View." Nevertheless, Adkins does step out of the box with the bluesy Joe Nichols-esque "Love Buzz" that boasts some skittering snare drums.

The deluxe version finds Adkins transforming from Mr. Sensitive to his old rowdy self again. Throw all your political correctness out the window with "It's a Woman's Thing" where Adkins has his fun with the peculiarities of women. And he gets even more audacious with Blake Shelton on the somehow silly "If I Was A Woman" where they imagined themselves as women and the kind of men they would date. These additional tracks are fun to listen but they are by no means indispensable. On the other hand, "Proud to be Me"--the album proper--is Adkins at his most personal best. Mature, sensitive, heartfelt yet without being maudlin, this is a disc to be cherished.

I have to say I really love this new (at the time I'm typing this review up) album. From beginning to end, it's a great compilation and just further seals my status as a fan of this very genuine artist.

Radio listeners and video watchers got earlier exposure to Just Fishin', which is just one of several songs on here with much deeper meanings.

Starting out with the title track, Proud to Be Here, this album begins with a track that is, in the words of the artist, fairly auto-biographical. At this point in Trace Adkins life, as he has noted in interviews, he's just proud to have stuck around in the music business and be as successful as he has. Looking a little deeper though, he is also, as with Just Fishin' singing about much more.

Million Dollar View is a fun song that is the type that I've offered up to my fiance as my own opinion of her. It's a non-traditional love song that tells a woman just how valuable she is to you.

Days Like This is a fairly quiet ballad that is just calming to listen to. Yet another love song in disguise.

That's What You Get picks up the tempo and pace and gets back to a more rockin' sound. Another song about giving your woman what she needs.

Just Fishin' is a beautiful ballad about quality time spent with your children. Something that many people don't remind themselves to do as frequently as they should.

It's a Woman Thing is another up tempo fun Trace Adkins song. In this case, as a member of the male portion of the population, I suppose the song is more fun for me, but most woman would probably enjoy the tune as well as there's just so much truth buried in the lyrics. Guy's just don't understand so much that women do ;-)

Love Buzz slows things back down a little, with a bit more of a bluesy sound. I don't want to spoil the song any more than the title already does, but I think it's a great tune that again packs a lot fun into its lyrics.

It's Who You Know is another of those great songs with such a deeper meaning. It may take a little while for it to hit, but eventually it smacks you in the face (as it turns out, it will definitely smack you in the face with that extra message). Suffice it to say I could call that song one of my favorites from this album, but then again I could just about label this a greatest hits album if given the opportunity (even though it's all "new" music as I write this).

That's a general run down of the first 8 tracks. Rather than keep going through the individual tracks here, try sampling them for yourself. In my opinion this is a MUST purchase and required addition to most country music fan's libraries, so wasting more time writing about it here (or reading through my review) seems fairly pointless. Hit the purchase button already!

Trace continues to impress me with his ability to sing meaningful songs like Semper Fi, touching like Just Fishin' and fun songs like Dam* you Bubba. I rarely like every song on a CD, but I do enjoy this one.