Iowa City Press-Citizen (March 4th 2004)
Toppin’ The Charts
Blake Shelton to return to intimate setting of First Avenue Club
To say things have been going Blake Shelton's way is a vast understatement.
It seems the 27-year-old is on a roll and won't be stopping any time soon.
After having just finished a tour with Toby Keith, Shelton is gearing up for the release of his third album this summer. And he's on a successful tour of his own that will stop at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City on Saturday to promote the new album.
As if that weren't enough, Shelton recently was nominated for two Country Music Association awards, an Academy of Country Music award, and two CMT Flameworthy Video Awards. Add to that his sponsorships with Ford Trucks and Wrangler, and it is no wonder that his name is being mentioned as one of the top stars in country music.
"Life has been pretty good to me so far," Shelton said via telephone this week.
Shelton's self-titled debut album hit No. 3 on the country album charts in 2001, with the biggest first-week album sales for a debut country solo male artist since 1992. His debut single "Austin" claimed the No. 1 spot on both the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and the Top Country Singles Sales chart.
"The Baby," the first cut off his second album, "The Dreamer," sat at the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart for three weeks. Shelton hopes the first single from the new album, "When Somebody Knows You That Well," which goes on radio playlists March 15, will have the same success.
"I feel extremely fortunate to have found a song the caliber of `Austin' and `The Baby' that has the ability to affect people on an emotional level," Shelton said.
The songs are a reflection on relationships that are so close that thoughts and feelings are difficult to hide, he said.
"The way I pick songs is by listening to them and picking the ones I think are special or unique and that affect me somehow," Shelton said. "Story songs lean more to that way. I think with this third album, I am finally starting to find my direction."
Though he is still finishing work on the album, he says it looks like it will have a lot of drinking songs.
"It is not something we set out to do," he said. "But, they are on real life, real pain. We ended up with just a lot of songs about pain, love, and the good and bad times - I think that is the closest thing to traditional country."
Though Shelton is a big enough name to draw thousands, he said he chose to come to the First Avenue Club because it is an intimate place to play. The club holds about 500.
"We have played there several times," Shelton said. "One of the reasons we keep coming back is that we just have fun there. The people come there and they know that we are just going to kind of wing it and play with the crowd and have a good time."
Shalayna Van Geldern, 23, and her sister, Gaylene Johnson, 33, are glad he's coming. The sisters are driving in from Omaha to see him perform.
"He is an awesome singer," Johnson said. "He sings exactly in person as he does on his CD.
"The club is so neat. You can stand next to the stage and almost reach out and touch him. This guy is huge."