Green Bay Press Gazette (April 3rd 2003)
Shelton's star rising with 'unforgettable' song
Blake Shelton played hide-and-seek with "The Baby" and won. Boy, did he win.
The honky-tonk tenor recorded the song nearly a year before the release of his current album, "The Dreamer." He had a hunch about the song's potential. So he hid the tapes from promotion executives at Warner Brothers Nashville, fearful they would stop pushing his then-current single, "Ol' Red" in favor of "Baby."
The hunch paid off. "The Baby" finally was released at the end of 2002 and shot to the top of the country charts. It cemented the reputation of the 26-year-old Oklahoma native as one of the hottest new acts in country.
"I know for sure when a song is going to be unforgettable," Shelton said by phone from his home just outside Nashville, Tenn. "Sometimes a song can make a big impact on people and not be a hit. I knew 'The Baby' was going to have an impact on a lot of people."
A traditional country heartbreaker, "The Baby" follows the lifelong connection between a mother and her youngest son. And when she is on her deathbed, he rushes home in an unsuccessful attempt to say goodbye.
No, the song isn't autobiographical. But Shelton is the baby in his family (he has an older sister). Still, traditional country fans have taken Shelton's themes -- moms, dogs, truckers -- close to heart. That's fine with Shelton, who says he'll never be confused for a pop act anyway.
"It's weird," he says. "I can still see myself 10 years ago when I was still learning to play the guitar, listening to songs in my bedroom or my pickup truck. It's a sentimental thing to me that somewhere in the United States there is a kid driving around in his car getting excited about music and he's listening to my tapes. It's just sort of a full-circle thing for myself."
His self-titled debut album in 2001 was more of a ballad-driven collection of songs that netted two Top 10 singles, "Austin" and "Ol' Red." The new release features Shelton's rocking up-tempo side, closer to that of Travis Tritt, one of his major influences.
"There's a lot of different phases of me that other people aren't aware of and I'm not aware of," he says. "I'm still growing as an artist. Those things will reflect in my music as I mature and get older."
Shelton also took part in Warner Brothers' new tribute album to Hank Williams Jr. With buddy Darryl Worley and Trick Pony, Shelton covered "Young Country."
Shelton has a busy year mapped out. His next single, "Heavy Liftin'," comes out next week. And he'll launch a major tour this summer. That should give him the opportunity to get close to nearly all of fans, who have affectionately named themselves "The BS'ers."
"It's a perfect name," Shelton says of the moniker, which plays off his initials. "I'm full of crap half the time. I think people who have figured out my tricks know they can't take me that seriously. I think the fan club members have figured that out."