The Telegram & Gazette (July 21st 2005)

Shelton plays to country music’s honky-tonk roots; tunes eye drinking, heartbreak

A good night for Blake Shelton involves "listening to country music, drinking beer and telling jokes."

And that's not just a recipe for fun. It's also a pretty good business strategy, as Shelton is becoming a top-shelf honky-tonk singer. He is a regular barroom balladeer who can go on about the girl who got away, the hijinks that probably made the girl go away, and the bartender who saw the whole thing.

"People say country music is just a bunch of songs about crying in your beer, and I tell 'em, `Damn right!' Who hasn't cried in a beer sometime in their life?" Shelton explained.

Though most of Shelton's concerts this year are opening sets for Rascal Flatts, the singer does have a handful of headlining dates, including one at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon at Indian Ranch in Webster, with the Stephanie Eisley Band.

Shelton released his third album, "Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill," late last year, and with it continued a hot streak that began in 2001 when the Oklahoma native released his self-titled album and scored a hit with the song, "Austin."

"Barn & Grill" is full of songs Shelton described as stuff you'd hear on a barroom jukebox. Shelton said he was mostly inspired by the old songs of George Jones and Merle Haggard.

"The older I get, the more I appreciate old George Jones songs," Shelton said. "The more you live, the more you understand what he was talking about."

But "Barn & Grill" also has a high fun factor, which is just fine in these days of Kenny Chesney-dominated country music. Shelton opened his new album with "Some Beach," a song full of images of everyday irritants - bad drivers, sadistic dentists - that Shelton meets with the retort about rather being on some beach. (Yeah, go ahead and say it in a Southern drawl and you know what it sounds like.)

"Barn & Grill" also includes a song written by one-time Boston folkie Mary Gauthier. Shelton sang her boozy lament, "I Drink."

"She's good. She is writing songs from the heart," Shelton said of the songwriter, who recently relocated to Nashville.

Shelton sounded pleased that his brand of country music is "the" sound of the moment, but said he never knows what the right timing is for releasing songs.

"Right now, I'm connecting with people," Shelton said. "Country radio is more open-minded to this sound right now, and the country music fans are liking it, so I can get away with doing this."