Louisiana born singer-songwriter Adkins is a former college football player and oil rig roughneck. After slogging away at the fringes of the music industry for a number of years, he got a record deal and his 1996 debut record took him straight into the country charts. Adkins connected with his listeners with the combination of his smoky baritone vocals and his smart, slightly dark, Honky-Tonk sensibility. The single "Thinking Thing," also off of his debut, reached No. 1 in 1997.