The Lincoln Journal-Star (Aug. 25th 2006)

Shelton crisscrossing country from fair to fair

If you need to know anything about the fairs of America, just talk to Blake Shelton.

For the past couple of months, Shelton has been bringing his brand of traditional country to county and state fairs across the country, and he has at least another month of fair dates to go - including Sunday's show at the Nebraska State Fair's Open Air Auditorium.

"It looks like somebody threw dots at the map, doesn't it?"Shelton said of his fair tour. "I'm in New York playing a fair tonight, then we're headed your way. And we're going to hit every little stop along the way."

The journey through the land of corn dogs, midways and livestock shows will take Shelton to Pennsylvania and Kentucky before he makes his way to Lincoln.Then he's off to fairs in Colorado, Illinois,Ohio and his home state of Oklahoma.

"I hear a lot of artists complain about them (fair shows), but, for the most part, Ilike them,"he said. "There are a few things I always pay attention to, like is there standing room in front of the stage? We always like to have a crowd on their feet and up close. For the most part, they're a lot of fun. There's always people there who are excited to have a concert come through town."

Fair concerts and other similar events provide midlevel artists like Shelton an opportunity to perform for bigger crowds than would turn up in the clubs where he'd otherwise be booked. It's the same reason that he spent the early part of the year opening for Rascal Flatts, a tour that included a February stop at Pershing Center.

Five years ago, when Shelton released his debut album and its first single, "Austin," raced to the top of the country charts, it looked like he'd be headlining arenas relatively quickly. But that didn't happen.

"My career has definitely been gradual,"he said. "A lot of us thought we'd come out and be huge right away. It didn't turn out that way. It's been a slow, steady growth. I guess that could be seen as an advantage. I can screw up along the way and nobody really notices. That's the good thing about being at my level."

Shelton followed up his self-titled debut with 2003's "The Dreamer," which contained hits "The Baby" and "Ol'Red," and 2004's "Blake Shelton's Barn and Grill,"which has recently been certified gold for selling more than 500,000 copies.

His next album, which he's been recording off and on over the past couple of years, is being readied for release.

But fans will have to wait awhile before it hits stores. "It's going to be the early part of 2007 before the fourth album comes out," Shelton said. "That's a long time. But I love that. When you put out an album it's got to be something special... It remains to be seen if it's great or not. But we've exhausted every effort to find great songs, write great songs and record them the best we can. I'll never be able to say I rushed this."

Those who make their way to the fair Sunday will probably hear a couple of new songs mixed in with Shelton's hits and favorites from his first two albums. "You can't throw out five or six new things and keep the audience interested," he said. One of those songs might be his new single, which is set for release in October. But that decision is still a week or so away.

One thing the singer is certain to hear are the screams of female fans attracted to the curly haired country hunk.

Told he could probably stand on stage and sing the phone book and get those screams, Shelton laughed, then replied, "Thank you,I think." But he quickly admitted he loves the response he gets from the women in the audience.

"Oh god, yeah. Early on, that's one of the reasons I started doing this,"he said. "You want that attention, no doubt about it. As you grow up, it all comes back to the music. But you still love the attention."

Shelton, now 30, has been performing since he was a kid and is now a Nashville veteran who keeps plugging away, playing 150 to 200 nights a year and making records, hoping to push his career to the next level.

"It must be the music, for sure, that gets you there,"he said. "What that music is, Idon't know. If Iknew what it took to make it to that level, we wouldn't be talking about what it takes to get there. But I'm going to keep on trying."

And keep on playing fairs.