The Post-Crescent (June 27th 2003)
Blake Shelton gets a kick out of outdoor music festivals
Somebody close to Blake Shelton needs to tell the 27-year-old singer that he works too much.
When Shelton agreed to do a telephone interview in advance of his 6 p.m. appearance today at Country USA in Oshkosh, it ended up being scheduled for June 18, his birthday. The Oklahoma native didn't complain, but it just didn't seem right for a Southern boy to be chatting with a stranger instead of living it up with his buddies.
That is the price you pay when you are a rising star in country music. Shelton has scored with hit singles such as "Austin" and "The Baby" and his first two albums have spent time in Billboard's top 10 country albums chart. This summer he is opening for Toby Keith on the "Shock'N Y'all" tour.
Q: What are you doing talking to me on your birthday? You should be out partying.
A: That's how important you are. You're a very powerful man.
Q: Do you have any plans for tonight?
A: You know what? We're going to catch the bus and head up to Ohio to do a show, so I'm sure I'll probably drink in excess once I get on the bus and celebrate.
Q: How's the tour going with Toby Keith?
A: Well, we did our first show this past weekend for the 100th anniversary of Ford and all I can tell you is I have never seen so many people in my life in one place. It's weird for somebody like me at my level to be in front of a crowd of 80,000 people. I've never seen something like that before.
Q: Do you like playing outdoor festivals like Country USA with a lot of people on the bill?
A: Those are normally my favorite type of shows to play. I've got so many friends, other artists and things in this business, this is the only opportunity I get to see them. On this particular show, I have not been around Dwight Yoakam and Sara Evans enough to call them friends, but I am a big fan of their music, especially Dwight. I mean, heck, he's one of the reasons I got into this business. So I'm really looking forward to the show, not just as an artist but as a fan, too.
Q: Have you been influenced by artists outside of country music?
A: Sure, man, I listen to all kinds of music. One of my favorite bands is the Black Crowes, believe it or not. I think they make some really cool-sounding records. I listen to all kinds of music, man. A lot of times people are surprised when they hop on the bus and hear what I'm playing.
Q: What is something you listen to that people would be surprised that you like?
A: There was a rock band out a few years ago that I never quite got over called Jane's Addiction, and lot of people are surprised to hear me talk about them every now and then.
Q: I read that your latest video "Heavy Liftin'" was inspired in part by Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Could you elaborate on that?
A: I had seen that video about a month or two before we were about to release "Heavy Liftin'" as a single and we were talking about what to do with the video, and I remember when I saw that video, it had so much energy and it was so intense. These people were partying and they were having fun but they were so intense about it. I just thought that was really cool how they were able to get all those emotions into their video, so I wanted something like that for mine. Although you won't look at the two and see a lot of similarities, my goal was to get that intense feeling you get when you see ("Smells Like Teen Spirit").
Q: What should people expect when they come see you at Country USA?
A: I'm just a farm kid from Tennessee that gets up on stage to play some country music. I keep it simple. I try to have as much fun with the audience as I can.