Trace Adkins changed more than record labels while preparing his new album, Cowboy’s Back In Town. The one-time finalist on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” cranks up the redneck humor and outlandish fun.

The title cut finds Adkins playing the romantic lead in his own chick flick.

The melodic, mid-tempo song portrays a respectable businesswoman with an office job carrying on a weekend tryst with a roughneck cowboy that she keeps secret from colleagues and friends.

On “Hold My Beer,” Adkins exaggerates his southern drawl to entertaining effect while narrating details of an alcohol-fueled wedding.

Similarly, the profane titles and lowbrow wit of “Hell, I Can Do That,” ”Whoop A Man’s …” and “Ala-Freakin-Bama” suggest Adkins could have drawn these songs from the comic routines of “Larry the Cable Guy.”

Still, the towering Louisiana native doesn’t completely ignore his tender side, which he’s used to good affect in the past.

The mid-tempo “This Ain’t No Love Song,” currently getting country radio play, shows a sly sense of drama as he communicates a lyric that says one thing but means another.

“Still Love You” is a straight-ahead romantic ballad where Adkins show his range and the emotional weight of his burly baritone.

But, this time out, Adkins is more salacious than sensitive — and makes it work for him.

This is Adkins’ first album since leaving Capitol Records for Show Dog-Universal, a label co-owned by Adkins’ friend and touring partner, Toby Keith.

Michael McCall reviews music for The Associated Press
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.