The Free Lance-Star (July 8th 2010)

Shelton Now In Season

Country singer Blake Shelton called from his garden in Tishomingo, Okla.

"The crabgrass has taken my s -- t over," he said.

He figures his squash, cucumbers, watermelon, okra and eggplant would probably be better off if he didn't have to spend so much time away from home.

"My garden is kinda my baby," he said. "Here in southern Oklahoma, it's probably a little too dry, but I try anyway."

Shelton admits that his isn't the greenest thumb around, but his dedication has cultivated success in the past. He managed to grow a blue-ribbon-size country career when he left his home state of Oklahoma and moved to Nashville more than a decade ago.

His six No. 1 hits in the past nine years make him one of the top country artists of the new millennium. He broke onto the scene with "Austin" in 2001 and followed that up with a consistent string of hits including "Ol' Red," "The Baby," "Some Beach," "The More I Drink," "Home" and "Hillbilly Bone."

As far as he can remember, his life was always focused on music. It wasn't a particular song or person that inspired him, just a general passion. With some rudimentary guitar lessons from an uncle -- the only musical person in his family -- Shelton was ready to play and write songs.

"I did the things I was interested in," he said. "I was lucky to have parents who were supportive."

But it wasn't his parents who planted the seed of country stardom.

"I remember the first time I got onstage," he said. "That changed my life -- being excited and afraid at the same time."

But Shelton still didn't know what he was doing. He needed to go to the source: Nashville.

"If you want to become a better golfer, you ought to be playing against Tiger Woods," he said. "That's what happened to my songwriting in Nashville."

With his skills honed to radio sharpness, Shelton was able to work with a few PGA pros of county songwriting. His debut album included contributions from legendary songwriters Bobby Braddock and Earl Thomas Conley.

Shelton was a success out of the gate as a recording artist, but there were the requisite years of hard work and scraping by in Music City before he got his big break.

"I never was one of those people like Taylor Swift or Miranda [Lambert, his fiancee], who could write a brilliant song when they were 15," he said.

Shelton has more than made up for his lack of musical precociousness. His eventual success allowed him to separate himself from Nashville, at least physically.

He's a country boy at heart -- perhaps even too country for Nashville. He lives full time in Oklahoma now, but even when he hung his hat in Nashville, he tried to live on the outskirts.

"I tried to live as far away from the city as I could," he said.

After a few hits, he was secure enough to move back home, which he vowed to do before he left Oklahoma to pursue his dream.

The move home was comforting, but it also provided an epiphany of sorts.

"Coming back here and trying to pick up where I left off really had an effect on me," he said. "It's really easy to lose touch with what actual country fans want, what moves them. I didn't realize that until I came back here."

The result was "Hillbilly Bone," a six-song extended play released in November 2009. The title track, a rowdy duet with Trace Adkins, went to No. 1 on the country charts. It was a bit of a departure for Shelton, who had prior success with more heartfelt love songs. He called it simple goofiness.

"They want to hear something mindless and fun," he said. "Who wants to have to think that hard? Just beat on the dashboard and laugh."

He plans to give fans plenty of those moments when he comes to Celebrate Virginia Live tomorrow night.

"I have a ball onstage," he said. "We do our hits, but there's no telling what else we might do. What comes out of my mouth can be unexpected."