The Gazette (Aug. 6th 2004)

Shelton continues to stretch himself artistically, stylistically

A tall child who grew to a towering 6 feet 5 inches, it didn't take country singer Blake Shelton long to fill some pretty big boots.

Growing on the inside took a little bit longer, but Shelton says he may have finally caught up with himself.

"As I'm getting a little older and really starting to settle into myself I realize I'm a pretty laid-back guy and that's alive in my music," Shelton says, speaking from Nashville.

His new album, "Blake Shelton's Barn and Grill," due out in November, is more country and less rock, a turn Shelton says reflects his taste.

Coloradans can decide if they like the change when Shelton performs at the Gold Rush Palladium in Cripple Creek on Sunday. Shelton plans to try out some of his new material, but fans of his first two albums need not worry -- Shelton will still play such hits as "The Baby" and "Austin." "Ol' Red," which Shelton calls an "underground hit" and a crowd pleaser, also will be included.

Shelton first entered the public eye with the release of his self- titled album in 2001, which went gold. His second release, "The Dreamer," followed in 2003. Shelton's new single, "Some Beach," a humorous look at daydreaming your way through life's irritations, is hitting the radio.

The Oklahoma native hopes a platinum album is just around the corner. "I do feel this is the strongest album from start to finish I've made, and I just love the atmosphere the album creates," he says.

"I want to move up to the next level... (but) whether it happens or not I'm not going to beat myself up over it because I've been lucky to this point."

It's a big goal for an artist who admits some of his colleagues, especially childhood hero Earl Thomas Conley, still make him nervous. But Shelton says making music has always been his dream. Without it, he says, "I'd probably be homeless because I don't know what else I would do.

"When you're with me for the day, you get sick of me because the radio has either got to be on or I've got to be singing and it's just part of me as much as breathing."

Shelton started out writing songs, but he hasn't been penning as many of his hits lately. "There's great, great songs out there in Nashville and I'd be crazy to pass on them just to record a song because my name is on it," he says.

The songs Shelton enjoys singing now have their roots dug deep in country, with lyrics that speak of everyday life. He's drawn toward songs with more traditional flavor, but Shelton says the progression of country toward pop and rock is not the blasphemy it's been made out to be.

"It'd be easy for me to say, 'Well, country's just not country anymore because they're not using fiddles as much,' but the reality is nobody wants to listen to the music that their parents listened to," he says.

"Country's a genre, but it has to change over time, I guess, and I guess the artists do too or else it'll be like the blues or jazz - - it'll just be a little bitty section of music at Wal-Mart that everybody passes because there's nothing popular out there."

Shelton says he chooses songs that feel good to him, with lyrics he can relate to.

"Anytime there's a song I do that people come out of their chairs and know the words and they sing along to me that's a success," he says. "That's all I can ask for is that connection."