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Wendel Adkins

American country music singer and songwriter. Raised in Fremont, Ohio, during his teens, Adkins played organ in a rock band, but he preferred to sing country music. He went to Nashville but poor management stifled his talent and his ambition. Adkins moved to Las Vegas and, because he was tall, good-looking and entertaining, he attracted a following in the casino hotels. His country act included impersonations of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, and he sounded like Waylon Jennings without trying. Ironically, it was Nelson who discovered him and suggested that he move from Las Vegas to Texas. He became associated with ‘outlaw country’ and he opened shows for both Nelson and David Allan Coe.