With Memorial Day coming up, honoring veterans is an important and necessary way to show support—and there’s no better way to do so than with music.
Videos by American Songwriter
On May 28, Country singer/songwriter Trace Adkins released his new song, “The Empty Chair,” in honor of veterans who lost their lives in the line of service. Adkins released a touching video to accompany the song. The new video features pictures that fans sent to Adkins, of veterans in their families, paying tribute to their service and lives.
“The Empty Chair” will be also be included on Adkins’ 13th upcoming studio album produced via Verge Records. The song has gritty and descriptive lyrics that many small-town southerners can relate to. Adkins paints a picture of older men sitting around a table at a cozy diner with a visible brotherly bond between them all, cultivated in the line of service.
Adkins sings, Those guys were front-line brothers / Their lives depended on each other / They were soldiers long before they were men / Yeah, the ones that somehow survived / Came home, went on to build their lives / Never chargin’ us a penny / For the debt we owe to them / But you can almost smell the gun smoke / And the foxholes that they shared / On / the days they raise their coffees / And toast the empty chair.
The song ends with an emotional final lyric: To the brother who ain’t there / We salute you.
Trying to find as many ways to give back to the Veteran community, Adkins has been a spokesperson for The Wounded Warrior Project, completed 12 USO Tours and works hard to advocate for those who need more support.
On Saturday, May 29, Adkins will perform “The Empty Chair” on the Fox News Channel at 8 p.m. ET. The “You’re Gonna Miss This” singer has also invited four Veterans to the studio in Nashville to be the first to see him perform the song live and in-person.
You can listen to “The Empty Chair” below, and make sure to play it for the veterans in your life this Memorial Day.
Photo by Chase Lauer
