Gary Allan may prefer standing behind a microphone to sitting on a bull, but the platinum-selling singer offered his voice to the Professional Bull Rider's organization (PBR). His Top 20 song, 'Get Off on the Pain,' has been tapped by the PBR as their theme song for 2011.

The song is perhaps as fitting for the notoriously dangerous sport as it is for the singer, who has weathered several storms since he broke through in country music in 1996, including the suicide of his wife in 2004 and vocal cord surgery late last year. Yet Gary insists he has never considered giving up.

"I always wanted to give something new of myself. That is just being hardened by life," he admits. "Everything in my life is a little harder-edged right now. I was very conscious of not doing the same thing or even looking the same way, especially the last four or five years. I'm a little more callous, just because of the lumps that I've taken."

Gary has several shows planned throughout 2011, which he says is how he stays positive. "It's always performing for me," the California native tells The Boot. "I write and I record so I can perform. It all ties to that. I've done it since I was a little kid. That's my absolute rush is playing for different people every night, bringing something else to the table they've never seen."

Gary previously performed at the PBR's biggest one-day event, the 2010 Dickies Iron Cowboy Invitational at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

This year, he will play in Oklahoma, Louisiana, North Carolina and Connecticut, as well as a special show at the House of Blues in New Jersey, with more dates expected to be announced. See his schedule here.

Meanwhile, the nationally-televised Built Ford Tough series kicks off tonight (January 7) with the Madison Square Garden Invitational in New York City, and will wrap up in October in Las Vegas. Their schedule can be found here.

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