Feature: Trace Adkins hawks chicken

LOS ANGELES, April 5 (UPI) -- Country music star Trace Adkins, who has been looking to get more involved in movie and TV acting, has taken a significant step in that direction with his new role as a national pitchman for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Scott Bergren, chief marketing officer for KFC, announced the deal in March at a private dinner hosted by Capitol Records for executives of the ClearChannel Radio Group. Adkins' voice is now featured on TV commercials throughout North America.

In an interview with United Press International, Adkins said he is scheduled to shoot an on-camera commercial in the near future, but for now he's happy with the exposure the voice-over work is bringing him.

"It gives me a chance to ... be as much of a voice-over professional as I can possibly be," he said. "I've been told time and time again by radio people that I have the voice to do it, but I've never been given the opportunity to do it."

Adkins -- who reportedly beat out a field of around 500 rivals for the KFC gig -- certainly has had some seasoning to prepare him for the high profile that comes with a major national advertising campaign. His narration is featured in the documentary film "The Dance," as well as several specials for Home & Garden Television, The Food Network and Country Music Television. He is also set to co-star with country superstar Reba McEntire in Disney's "Fox and the Hound II, Friends Forever," scheduled for release in 2006.

Yet Adkins has set a modest and typically self-deprecating goal for his voice-over performances: "to try not to sound like I have a mouth full of snuff or something."

Of course, it's his singing voice that has enabled Adkins to connect with country music fans, with such hits as "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing," "I'm Tryin'" and "Hot Mama" -- the first single from his most recent album, "Comin' on Strong."

When the 6-foot, 6-inch singer performed at a showcase in Los Angeles last November to promote the album, he took time out to visit with Hollywood casting directors -- "just trying to get a foot in the door," as he put it. The outreach paid off, according to a spokeswoman for Adkins, who said that the meetings led to a role in the CBS comedy "Yes, Dear."

Adkins and fellow country star Travis Tritt played a pair of convicts. Adkins said it was a positive experience for him, but he hesitated when he was asked whether he got good feedback on his performance.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. "I got a few 'attaboys' and a few pats on the back. I don't think I'm going to win an Emmy."

Adkins' other acting credits include a voice-over appearance on "King of the Hill" as a character called "Big John the Trucker." He is scheduled to return to the Emmy-winning animated comedy next month, also as a truck driver, but this time with the name "Elvin."

In the meantime, there are still records to cut. Adkins was in Nashville this week meeting with Capitol Records executives to start planning for his next album. But fans shouldn't expect it in stores any time soon.

"We're just starting the process of writing new stuff, listening to new songs, looking for direction," he said. "This is the infancy of the album. It's months and months down the road."

However, Adkins is ready to release a new single from "Comin' on Strong." "Rough & Ready" is scheduled to be released April 19.

Adkins -- who showed up from time to time on ABC's late night "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" -- will talk politics on TV again later this month, when he appears on Dennis Miller's new cable show on MSNBC. On top of all that, he's appearing this week on the syndicated game show "Hollywood Squares."

As his profile grows, Adkins keeps looking out for opportunities to show his stuff as an actor.

The Springhill, La., native concedes that, given his height and his cowboy ways, he will not be right for every role. But he sounded as thought he thought he would have been a good choice to star in the recent remake of "Walking Tall," the '70s movie hit about that one-man vigilante committee, Southern Sheriff Buford Puser.

"I am Buford Puser," he said.