Trace Adkins and Victoria Pratt.Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty
Trace Adkinssays he truly met his match when he was offered the role of Albie Roman, the patriarch inMonarch,the much-anticipated Fox primetime drama set in the country music scene.
“He’s very much like me,” the 60-year-old country hitmaker tells PEOPLE. “I mean, I can look back over periods in my life where the train was perpetually off the track, and that’s Albie’s world. The train is perpetually off the track. Sometimes it’s his fault, sometimes it’s not, but he has to deal with that stuff.”
Indeed, Adkins has hadhis share of tabloid headlinesover the years — but forgive him for forgetting one more glaringly obvious reason that the part fits him to a T: The singer and his character are both big-time country stars. And obviously, Adkins' casting is just one of the ways the show, which is set in Austin, is sure to bring a country music authenticity to what promises to be one of the fall’s hottest — and steamiest — new shows.
Adkins was just one among several keyMonarchparticipants who walked the red carpet last week before the ACM Honors awards show in Nashville, and each one highlighted the strong connections between the real-life spirit of country music and Hollywood’s version of it.
Nashville singer-songwriterCaitlyn Smithglowed over her good fortune to sing the show’s theme song, “The Card You Gamble.” The up-and-comer, who hit the charts last year with “I Can’t,” anOld Dominioncollab, noted the song is the first she’s released that she hasn’t written.
“Oh, it’s a Love Junkies song!” Smith, 36, said, recalling the moment it was pitched to her. “Sign me up!”
Caitlyn Smith.Jason Kempin/Getty
Once she heard it, she said, she was assured she had made the right decision: “I fell in love with it because it’s something different than I’ve ever done before. There’s definitely this drama in it. It’s a little Western and spooky. It fits the show very well, and it was fun to record. When I went into the vocal booth to cut the song, it was almost like I had to put on my own character and imagine I was in the show, as well.”
Monarchalso has tapped several Nashville music legends for high-profile cameos, includingMartina McBride,Tanya Tucker,Shania TwainandLittle Big Town.On the red carpet, the LBT quartet —Karen Fairchild,Kimberly Schlapman,Phillip SweetandJimi Westbrook— said they didn’t have to get talked into their participation when it was offered.
“We like an adventure,” Fairchild, 52, told PEOPLE.
The experience also taught the foursome about the tedious side to filming. “I didn’t realize that actors stand around and wait so long,” Fairchild said. “Then all of a sudden, they’re like on and — bam! — they’re in it, and it’s like, wow!”
Though none of the four said their turn before cameras tempted them to add a new sideline to their careers, they were all excited to be a part of the show.
“It gives you all the nostalgic feelings of the country shows that have been its precursor, but it also is brand new,” Fairchild said.
“It’s got the glamour and the drama,” Westbrook, 50, said. Schlapman, 52, added: “It’s very reminiscent ofDallasandDynasty. So fun!”
Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town.Jason Kempin/Getty
Also on the red carpet was cast member Beth Ditto, who may not hail from a country music hotbed like Nashville or Austin, but the Arkansas native brought her Southern roots and musical chops to the drama as the Roman family’s black sheep daughter, Gigi. Though Ditto has made her name as lead singer for indie rock band Gossip, she told PEOPLE she grew up on country music, so she felt at home in the genre.
She also knows its history. When she was offered the role of the daughter in a country music family dynasty, she said she first assumed it would be like the Carter family — the genre’s homespun trio who pioneered the sound back in the 1920s and 1930s. Instead, Ditto quickly learned she was about to be dropped into a fictional world of glitzy mayhem.
“I was like, oh my God, there’s so much to work from!” Ditto, 41, said.
Beth Ditto.Jason Kempin/Getty
But even with his experience, he admitted, he was initially “terrified” to share scenes with Oscar winnerSusan Sarandon.
“And then,” he said, “I quickly realized, oh my God, she’s so professional and so good that she’s gonna carry the scene. So, if you don’t throw up on yourself, you’ll probably be OK because she’s gonna do all the heavy lifting. I just swam in her wake the whole time and had a ball.”
Monarchpremieres on the Fox network at 8 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CDT on Sept. 11.
source: people.com
