Remember when Trace Adkins’ house burned down this past June?  It was scary and devastating, but everyone was okay.  You’d think by now he’d be rebuilding, but in fact, the burnt shell of a house is still standing due to insurance investigations, etc.  Finally, crews were able to start demolition yesterday, and Trace tweeted this pic:

Trace Adkins sang the anthem at last night’s game, just one night after teen Idol Scotty McCreery sang it for game 1. You might have heard that Scotty made a little flub so it sounded like he was saying “No Jose” instead of “O say.” (scroll down to watch it for yourself.) It was an otherwise perfect anthem, by the way, but it’s impossible to hear it and not wonder why he’s mentioning Jose all of the sudden. Anyway, last night was Trace’s turn, and he did a swell job. No Joses anywhere!

Trace Adkins is changing jobs, for three days at least.  There’s a new GAC show called “Day Jobs,” and while at first I thought, “who cares?” I found out that the country stars who come on the show actually have to go back and work an 8 hour shift at the place where they worked before they were a star.  In Trace’s case, he went the extra mile and spent three days on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.  Kind of cool.  You’ll also see stars go back and do waitressing, shoe sales, and more when the show starts in October.

WireImage/AP

…On Celebrity Apprentice, that is. Remember, it was semi-hateable British dude Piers Morgan who beat Trace Adkins in the final throwdown on Celebrity Apprentice a few seasons back. Now Piers is the new Larry King, interviewing all kinds of folks every weeknight on CNN. Tonight is Trace’s turn, so be sure to check out the two former rivals as they catch up on stuff.

I’m sure you’ve heard of PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, maybe because of their crazy stunts or possibly because Blake Shelton has an ongoing Twitter battle with them.  Well Trace Adkin’s 9 year-old daughter Brianna knows who they are now that they’ve given her an award for her heroic rescue of the two family puppies during the Adkins’ house fire.  Sounds scary to think of a 9 year-old going back into a burning house for some puppies, but Brianna wouldn’t give up on them, and enlisted the help of a neighbor to make sure they got out okay.  Trace says he’s very proud of his daughter’s bravery.  And as for PETA, they’ve given her a Compassionate Action Award, which is a certificate that comes with some vegan chocolates, apparently.

Leave it to Trace Adkins to find some humor in the house fire that completely destroyed his Nashville-area home.  Here he tells a story about the conversation he had with his wife, who used to be a publicist, as soon as he found out about the fire. (He had just landed in Alaska, where he was going for a few shows and some fishing):

“I told her after the plane refueled I would head back and she told me just to stay there, that there was nothing I could do in Nashville.  I told her to just put on her publicists’ hat a minute and think about that headline: ‘Trace Adkins’ House Burns, His Family Is Homeless and He Goes Fishing in Alaska.’ So I came home and she was right, there was nothing I could do but hug them.”

And remember, if you feel like you want to help the Adkins family, Trace says to donate to the American Red Cross instead.  He says those tornado victims need your help much more than he does.  What a dude!

As you probably heard, Trace Adkins’ house burned to the ground last weekend, sparing his family and pets but taking just about everything else.  So how can you help Trace and his family?  Here’s what Trace wants you to do:  Donate to the American Red Cross through CMT.  Trace says he’s still got his music and his family, but there are families out there who have lost so much more in recent weather disasters, and those are the folks he wants you to help.  How nice is that?  If you would like to make a donation in honor of Trace and his family, click here for details.

Here’s a cute picture of Trace, his wife and his three youngest daughters in happier times last month:

Luckily they’re all okay after a fire that completely gutted their 5,000 square foot Tennessee home.  Here’s what went down:  On Saturday afternoon, Trace’s three kids and a friend were at his home watching a movie with a nanny.  Trace’s wife Rhonda was running errands nearby.  The nanny heard a loud boom in the garage, and went to check it out.  She reportedly saw a dryer tipped on its side and smoking.  She did exactly the right thing and got those kids right out of the house, calling 911 in the process.  While the fire department of Brentwood, the Adkins’ hometown, arrived almost immediately, the fire spread so quickly it was impossible to save anything except for a few mementos and the family dog.  Even the Escalade parked near the house was fried. 

Now here’s the important thing for you to take from this story:  The major reason those kids are okay is that the fire department had recently given a talk at their school, and encouraged everyone to come up with a fire evacuation plan.  The Adkins family did just that, tying a yellow ribbon to a tree far enough away from the house to be safe from flames.  Those kids and their nanny ran right to that tree, and Rhonda says that’s probably why they’re all alive today.  Rhonda, by the way, got the call while she was out and came zooming home, seeing the huge plumes of black smoke rising up in the sky.  How scary would that be??!! 

Trace found out about the fire when he landed in Alaska and then immediately high-tailed it home.  He has posted an incredible slideshow of the fire, and has expressed how humbled he is by the concern from friends and fans.  He also wants YOU to go to this website RIGHT AWAY and make a plan for your family in case the same thing happens to you.  DO IT!  I’m going to.

It’s The Donald, Donald Trump.  According to John Rich, who is currently competing in Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, says that Trump recently told him that basically Trace Adkins was nobody until he did the Celebrity Apprentice a few seasons back,and that now he’s huge thanks to the show.  Forget about the multiplatinum albums, the number one hits, Donald Trump MADE Trace.  John Rich says that he was about to debate the issue until he remembered that he was in a competition that he wants to win, so he just said, “Yes, sir, he sure was!”

For “Brown Chicken, Brown Cow.”  It’s his latest single, and it’s a reference to an old joke about 70s adult films and the music they play in the background.  Because some formerly loyal fans are turned off by it, the song hasn’t done that well on the radio, so Trace has apologized for the misfire.  But because it’s Trace, it’s not really a full apology…the guy’s not exactly losing sleep over the whole thing, he says, and he jokingly blames the songwriters for telling him it would be a surefire hit.  Turns out they were half right.  The video, which features puppets and is quite clever and funny, is a huge hit on CMT.  So there!