"Muddy Water" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...

. It was released in August 2008 as the first single from his eighth studio album, '' X''. The song was written by Monty Criswell and Rick Huckaby.

Background

Adkins said of the song, "That has haunted me -- because it just spoke to me. I related to it. That's the way my life is."

Critical reception

Leeann Ward of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a 'B' grade, writing that Adkins "sings this song of redemption with power, but does not cross the line of vocal theatrics" and "the production accurately presents the swanky southern rock sound that one might imagine from a song with its title."

Music video

The music video was directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music Asso ...

and premiered in October 2008.

Stephen Baldwin Stephen Andrew Baldwin (born May 12, 1966) is an American actor, producer and director. He has appeared in the films ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Posse'' (1993), ''8 Seconds'' (1994), ''Threesome'' (1994), ''The Usual Suspects'' (19 ...

stars in the video. The church where the video was filmed, the Bethlehem United Methodist Church in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States ce ...

, was destroyed by a fire in July 2009.

Chart performance

"Muddy Water" debuted at number 45 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of August 23, 2008.

References

{{authority control 2008 singles Trace Adkins songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy 2008 songs Songs written by Monty Criswell