The Greenville News (July 27th 2006)
Making his move
Blake Shelton has enjoyed a bit of good luck in the 4 1/2 years since he burst onto the country music scene.
The singer's debut single went to No. 1, the first in a string of chart-toppers, and Shelton has toured with the likes of Toby Keith.
But, he says, his tour with Rascal Flatts has been a career booster like no other.
"It's probably the biggest thing that's happened for me in my career," Shelton said in a recent phone interview from a tour stop near Chicago. "It's hard to put a finger on what things propel you to the next level, but this is one of those things where you can actually see that it's making a huge difference in my career. . . . Being on this tour and being in front of this many people and getting this kind of exposure, everything goes to the next level."
That's especially nice because Shelton considered turning down the tour, where he performs opener Jason Aldean. His traditional-country-flavored sound is much different than the pop-flavored vibe of Rascal Flatts' music, so Shelton wasn't sure the pairing would mesh well.
But, he said, that contrast is a big part of why it does work. Instead of singing to the converted, as it were, he is performing for folks who might not be as interested in or attracted to his style of music. It makes him work a little harder, knowing he has to win over the crowd.
"You're the underdog when you step out there on stage, I'm the one that has something to prove; those guys don't. You learn to be a better entertainer, a better singer. You have to learn ways to keep everybody's attention while you're up there," said Shelton.
It helps that he has a raft of hits to choose from, even though he has only released three albums. There's "Austin," which tells the story of a couple reconnecting through answering machine messages. And "Ol' Red," about a dog that helps a prisoner escape from jail. And the tear-jerker, "The Baby," is in the great country-music tradition of songs about long-suffering mothers and wayward sons.
Country music has always produced songs that are capable of emptying the tear ducts, probably more so than any other genre of popular music. Songs like those, and the drinking songs recorded by everybody from Shelton to Hank Williams, are merely a reflection of the lives people lead, Shelton said.
"I've always heard that country music is music for the people," he said. "It's stuff that everybody can relate to. You're gonna have to sing about loss, and heartache, and going out and drinking because you're either sad or happy, because those are the things that real people go through every day. It's not always rainbows and sunshine out there."
Shelton's last album, "Blake Shelton's Barn and Grill," was released in 2004, but he isn't in any hurry to put out the next one. There's at least one more single to be released from "Barn and Grill," Shelton said.
He has begun recording songs for another album, but the disc likely won't come out until next year, he said.
Shelton said he's especially proud of "Barn and Grill," in part because it encapsulates his artistic evolution.
"I was 21 when I started making my first album, and I was just an idiot. I knew that I could sing, and people knew that I could sing, or they wouldn't have signed me to a record deal. But I was like, 'OK, you can do that, but let's figure out who you are,' . . . From 21 to now - I'm 29 - there's a lot of growing, especially when I spent five years on the road doing 150 shows a year. You start to become an artist instead of the guy who sang 'Austin'."