# A Sammy Kershaw and Lorrie Morgan Duet Led to This Hit for Trace Adkins in 2001

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/a-sammy-kershaw-and-lorrie-morgan-duet-led-to-this-hit-for-trace-adkins-in-2001/
- Published: 2026-11-04T17:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T06:38:44+00:00
- Original publisher: American Songwriter
- Original article: https://americansongwriter.com/a-sammy-kershaw-and-lorrie-morgan-duet-led-to-this-hit-for-trace-adkins-in-2001/
- Topics: Americas, World

## Key points

- “I’m Tryin’” became a Top 10 hit for Trace Adkins.
- Its writers first met to create a duet for Sammy Kershaw and Lorrie Morgan.
- Jeffrey Steele’s separate idea became the song.

## Summary

Trace Adkins’ 2001 song “I’m Tryin’” became a Top 10 hit, though its beginnings came during a writing session for a duet album by Sammy Kershaw and Lorrie Morgan. Songwriter Jeffrey Steele said he had been carrying the song’s opening phrase in his head, but the session was meant to produce a track for the singers.

Steele, Anthony Smith and Chris Wallin wrote “3 Seconds” for the duet album, then stayed behind to develop Steele’s separate idea. Lines about working long hours and struggling to adjust to life after divorce quickly inspired the other writers. Adkins later recorded “I’m Tryin’” for his album *Chrome*; Kershaw and Morgan, who married in 2001 and divorced in 2007, released their duet album *I Finally Found Someone* that year.

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