It’s hard to believe, but Trace Adkins‘ debut Dreamin’ Out Loud album is 30 years old. The record, released on Capitol Nashville and produced by Scott Hendricks, was the start of a lengthy and successful career, one that remains strong today.
Still, Adkins vividly remembers what it was like after he signed his record deal, and began working on Dreamin’ Out Loud.
“I could sit here and talk for 30 minutes about how scared I was doing that first album,” Adkins says in a video shared on social media. At the time, Hendricks had just been made the president of Capitol Records, with Adkins his first signing after becoming president.
“I had all these things in my head,” Adkins recalls. “The pressure that I felt was just incredible. I remember the first day in the studio when I was doing vocals. The tracking part of it was a blast. It was like I was in Heaven; it was so much fun. But then I started going into the studio with Scott and putting the vocals on these songs. I remember the first day that I went in there, and I think I was singing ‘Every Light In the House Is On.’ He must have made me sing it 50 times.”
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Why Trace Adkins Was Upset After His First Day Singing In the Studio
Adkins, new to the process of making a record, recalls being devastated when he left the studio after singing the same song over and over again.
“I remember I left the studio that day, and I’m a big enough man to say it, I cried driving home, because I thought, ‘Oh my God, I must be the worst singer that has a record deal in this town, because he made me sing that song 50 times,'” Adkins remembers. “‘I’m not going to be able to do this. I don’t have it. I don’t know what it is that I don’t have. But obviously I’m a horrible singer.’ I heard from some other artists that that’s just how he treats everybody…I was terrified. That was the first time that I had been in a real studio with real musicians, cutting something that really meant something. It was terrifying, and crazy stimulating at the same time.”
Adkins can now laugh about how daunting it was to create Dreamin’ Out Loud. But at the time, it was certainly no laughing matter.
“So when I went in to record my very first album, that was the first time that I had been in a real studio in Nashville, with a band of A-team players, and a renowned producer for a major record label,” Adkins says in a video shared on social media. “I was nervous. Maybe scared, I don’t know. I just didn’t have the kind of confidence that I felt like I really needed. But it was a daunting journey that I was beginning, and I just kept going back, and kept trying every day, and got through it. But it was nerve-wracking.”
“There’s A Girl In Texas,” the first single from Dreamin’ Out Loud, became a Top 20 hit. He followed “There’s A Girl In Texas” with “Every Light In the House Is On,” his first Top 5 single. Dreamin’ Out Loud also includes “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing,” Adkins’ first No. 1 hit.