The Gazette (Dec. 14th 2001)
Introducing Blake Shelton
The new kid on the country music block makes an impression
In one month, 25-year-old country singer Blake Shelton went from being a nobody to being a somebody, and his footing is still a bit rocky.
"I was the guy who slept till noon every day and did my own thing," Shelton says by phone from Nashville. "Suddenly you make a lot of money for the record company and you have a lot of pressure on you. Nine people work for me and depend on me for their jobs. You have to grow up really quick."
A tune about a discarded romance rejuvenated over an answering machine caught the attention of the country music crowd in August . "Austin ," off his self-titled debut album, was released in late July . The single clung to No. 1 on Billboard's country singles chart for five weeks . It marked the first time in four years a new male country artist reached the No. 1 spot with his debut single .
"I'm just starting now to settle in a little bit. You tell yourself if I ever have a hit, I'm not going to freak out or turn into a jerk," Shelton says. "Looking back, I would handle some stuff differently. Like turning down an interview, things like that, just because you think 'I don't have to do this.' Of course you have to do this."
Shelton arrived in Nashville at 17 , two weeks after high school graduation , at the urging of a fellow Oklahoman, Mae Boren Axton , the songwriter who co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel ."
She watched him perform at her own tribute concert in Ada, Okla., and told him to move to Nashville and give her a call. Shelton did just that. Axton already had his first job planned: painting her house.
While he was doing the dirty work, Axton made the phone calls, helping Shelton meet the right people and get a foot in the door. Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Bobby Braddock heard his voice on a tape and the partnership clicked. Four years from the day he arrived in Nashville, a record deal was his.
Now that the young singer has found a foothold, he's determined to make the most of it. Country music sales have been spiraling down in the past few years, but Shelton believes that won't be the case for long.
"Right now, it's a good time to be new. There seems to be a new exciting bunch of country acts that came out this year, like Trick Pony , Cyndi Thomson , Jamie O'Neal . It seems for some time that it's getting ready to click again," Shelton says.
"Blake Shelton " has four songs he co-wrote, including "All Over Me ," showing off his vocal range as he laments brushing off a girlfriend's affection.
"My album ended up with probably not a lot of direction. One song is nothing like the next song. I'm proud of that. I don't claim to know what I want to say in life yet. I'm only 25. I don't know what I want to do in life yet. So far it seems to be working."
He harbors no illusions about what's expected of him next: another skyrocketing single and successful album ... and quickly.
"It takes me a long time to find good songs. I'm going to take my time, and the record company will get mad at me for taking so long, but I don't care if it takes two years to put an album out. I want it to catch people's attention."