Jon Bon Jovi sang about being shot through the heart.

Trace Adkins lived it.

The imposing country singer was shot through the lungs and heart by his second wife during his longtime struggle with alcoholism. As a teen, he was driving his pickup truck in fog when he struck the back of a school bus, nearly dying (his younger brother later did die in a car crash). Before the baritone found success, he worked on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yet Adkins, who will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bangor Auditorium, has not only survived but has thrived.

The Louisiana native is now a genuine, multimedia hyphenate.

His “American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II” was released in December, and the single “You’re Gonna Miss This,” one of three new songs on the album, is climbing the country charts.

Adkins, speaking by phone from his home in Nashville, was humble about his success.

“I feel very fortunate that I’ve been here long enough and been competitive enough to get to a ‘Greatest Hits, Vol. II,'” he said.

Don’t be surprised to see a new studio album from Adkins in the near future. He said the bulk of his eighth studio CD has been recorded, although no timetable has been set for its release.

Adkins also has become an author, with his first book, “A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck,” released last November. It’s a combination of autobiography mixed with his thoughts on issues of the day.

He said the book had been coming for a few years: “People had been urging me to write this book, and I’ve been putting it off. In an attempt to get them to shut up and leave me alone, I said OK.”

He worked on it with brothers Keith and Kent Zimmerman, who helped him set up a template for the book.

“I expected it to be tedious, but it turned out to be enjoyable, even therapeutic in a way,” Adkins recalled.

He’s finding quite a few people who agree with his philosophy in the book.

“I’m a conservative guy, but I come at it from common sense,” he said. “It’s a cowboy approach and a populist point of view. There’s a lot of people who feel this way.”

Adkins also took part in NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Donald Trump’s latest project, in which celebrities compete to earn a $250,000 prize for their favorite charity.

Adkins is competing for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, which researches the increasing incidences of food allergies.

“My 6-year-old daughter, Brianna, has some food allergies, so this is something we as a family have to deal with every day,” he said.

It sounded like the reality show was something of an ordeal for Adkins.

“It was an exercise in restraint, the likes of which I’ve never experienced in my life,” he said. “I had to bite my tongue and mind my own business, and remind myself that I was representing a charity.”

The 46-year-old Adkins seems like a man very comfortable in his own skin.

“I’m an OK guy, a pretty decent dude, who offers what I can to this world,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of fans who seem to like what I am, and what I do. So why not be comfortable with it?”

For tickets to the Luke Bryan-Trace Adkins concert, call the Bangor Auditorium box office at 990-4444 or TicketMaster at 775-3331.

dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net

990-8028