Country star Trace Adkins will perform at the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS for his fifth time and reveals how this year will be different due to COVID-19, but equally as meaningful and celebratory in honoring veterans.
By Heather Newgen
Trace Adkins isn’t letting quarantine restrictions deter his support for the troops. The National Memorial Day Concert is one of PBS’ highest rated shows and will go on as scheduled, but with a few noticeable changes. The event draws hundreds of thousands of people to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building, but this year the tributes and performances will be filmed separately in accordance with social distancing guidelines–something Adkins didn’t mind.
“For me, it was less of a challenge than it has been in the past because there was no live audience and if I screwed up I got to do it over again. In the past I walked out on stage to 200,000 people, so it’s like being in a pressure cooker. This time it was way easier,” he laughed.
But that doesn’t mean the three-time Grammy nominee didn’t miss the fans.
“It was very strange. I got on top of a building with the Capitol Dome in the background and we had a skeleton camera crew. They played the tracks and I sang. It was surreal. I looked down and there was literally nobody there. This is my fifth time performing at the Memorial Day Concert. Every year that I’ve performed you walk out and there’s the orchestra and thousands of people in front of you. It’s awesome and just an awe-inspiring setting. This time it was different, but still I think we approached it with the same reverence and the same tone. Hopefully this show will remind people what this holiday is about. It’s about the most important holiday because if it wasn’t for this one, we wouldn’t be able to celebrate all the other ones. That’s the goal we had going into this and hopefully this will help remind people they should take a moment and pay tribute to the people who have sacrificed so much for us,” he exclusively told The Voluntourist.
Adkins has always advocated for veterans and is happy to celebrate them every chance he gets.
“I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of this. I was really happy they were going forward with it and going to do the show. It’s always a privilege and the highlight of my year to be part of this show. This year, I think especially. It provides some perspective. We’re going through a strange time but there have been generations before us who have been asked to sacrifice way more than we’re being asked to sacrifice. The times have been tougher on a much bigger scale and I think we need to be reminded of that. This too shall pass.”
He added, “It’s always been a privilege to work with veteran organizations and it’s really been the most meaningful thing that I’ve done in my career. I don’t expect to stop doing it.”
A few weeks ago Trace Adkins dropped his new single “Better Off,” which has already garnered over two million streams. But, don’t expect to see him perform it on the National Memorial Day Concert.
“It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go out there and do my new single. I did “Still A Soldier” and “Til the Sun Comes Up.” I think those songs hit the right notes and help people get the right frame of mind for this Memorial Day weekend.”
The National Memorial Day Concert will air on PBS Sunday, May 24 at 7 p.m. CT. The concert also will stream on Facebook, YouTube and pbs.org.