Country star Trace Adkins belts out 15-song set at Bagram Airfield

By Vanessa Villarreal (USFOR-A)April 20, 2015

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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 18, 2015--Trace Adkins and his famous baritone voice graced BAF's clamshell stage last night with a 15-song set that included his #1 hits "Ladies Love Country Boys" and "You're Gonna' Miss This." This is his tenth USO tour in 13 years.

Adkins, a spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project and the American Red Cross, is also a TV personality, actor, and author. He released his first album, "Dreamin' Out Loud," in 1995. Since then, more than 20 singles have made it on the Billboard country music charts.

"If you ever have a chance to go to the Grammy thing, go to the Grammy thing!" he said before singing "You're Gonna' Miss This," the song that earned him a Grammy nomination. "This is a sappy, daddy song."

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Kathryn Lintzenich, 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, said she's a big Adkins fan. She's been in country for six months and goes home in a week.

"It's tough being here without friends and family," she said. "It's really generous for these singers to come here. It makes you feel like you're home again."

Before singing "There's a Girl in Texas," Adkins said that before he wrote the song 20 years ago, he was asked if there were any girls in Texas.

"I said 'there are a lot of them,'" he explained. "So they said 'write me a song about one of them.' So I wrote this song and it ended up being my first single. And the words to this song mean more to me now."

Kathleen Cavanaugh, a civilian employee for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' New Orleans District, is on her third deployment. She said she never misses a USO concert and always tries to arrive early to get a front row seat.

"I've been to concerts in Kandahar and Bagram," she said. "It takes us temporarily out of a war zone and gives us a feeling of normality," she said. "It's like we are at a concert at home."

Toward the end of the set, before belting out his hit "Ladies Love Country Boys," Adkins thanked his seven-piece band.

"I wanted to bring the whole thing to you -- and not just a guitar," he said, followed by cheers from the crowd.

"These USO shows are special because they're showing their support for the military," U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nikki Moore, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, said. "And it does make us feel like we're at home. It gives us something special to remember."

"We have the best job in the world," Adkins said, before rocking out to his song "Ride." "We get paid to travel. This is the fun part. The beautiful places we get to go, the beautiful people we get to meet."

Cavanaugh walks a step or two to the stage and gets a handshake from Adkins.

"This is great!" she said. "See? That's why I love coming to these shows!"

Related Links:

U.S. Forces Afghanistan Facebook

More photos from the concert on Flickr