Trace Adkins (center) with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and his wife, Anne, at the Nashville Chapter of the Recording Academy® Grammy Nominee party. Photo courtesy of The Recording Academy® 2009. Photograph by Rick Diamond/WireImage.com.

A year ago, Trace Adkins picked up his first-ever Grammy nomination for “You’re Gonna Miss This,” and he made a big deal out of it, heading off to Los Angeles to be part of the festivities surrounding the night.

As a first-timer, he hadn’t counted on the sheer volume of the event, and it wasn’t quite what he expected. The Country Music Association annually gives out 14 awards — most of them on its live telecast. But the Grammys, with more than 100 categories, distributes the bulk of its trophies in the hours leading up to the broadcast. A lot of the nominees — particularly those will be featured on TV — don’t even bother to attend the pre-telecast ceremony. Trace discovered that he’d gotten all dressed up for an event that didn’t feel quite so eventful.

This year, he picked up a second Grammy nomination, for “All I Ask For Anymore.” But if he should win on Sunday, someone will have to call him to let him know about it. He’ll be performing that night in Fairfax, Va., with Martina McBride and Sarah Buxton on the Shine All Night Tour.

“[I’ll] make some money instead of spendin’ it,” he laughs. “[I’d] have to buy another new suit, spend a lot of money to go out for the Grammys.”

Even if he’s not at the ceremony, the recognition given “All I Ask For Anymore” — which got a Best Country Song nomination for authors Casey Beathard and Tim James — is meaningful to Trace. It’s a song with a positive take on the world at a time when it looks bleak to many Americans. But the song’s message transcends whatever economic or political stuff is dominating headlines.

“It was,” Trace says, “the ultimate song about priorities, and how our priority list — what order it should be in. It didn’t really go through the whole litany, but it did say there are a couple of things that are very important and then everything else is really [not]. And I thought that was the gyst of the song, and it really struck a chord with me and I think that’s what we all try to focus on. Yeah, times are tough, times are hard, but are you healthy? Is your family healthy? Do you still have your freedom? Yeah, so let’s keep things in perspective.”

Trace’s personal perspective is a little mellower now than it was when the Grammys rolled around last year. At that time, he told GAC he’d quit smoking seven weeks earlier, and he was admittedly irritable.

This year, his demeanor’s a lot more relaxed, though he’s quick to pop a little sarcasm into the mix.

“[I still] haven’t had a cigarette,” he beams. “I’ve killed four people, but I haven’t had a cigarette!”

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