Tulsa World (May 7th 2006)

Fire fighters

Country star Blake Shelton's benefit will aid rural Oklahomans

When first contacted by telephone about his upcoming benefit event, Ada's Blake Shelton was in the middle of a turkey hunt with some friends on his 1,000-acre ranch in Tennessee.

Or, at least, it had started as a turkey hunt.

"Well, we've got our bows out and we're drinkin' a couple of beers," Shelton said with a chuckle. "We're finally realizing that you actually have to wake up early and get out there and try. They don't just come to your door and surrender."

While there probably won't be many opportunities to bag a turkey at Raindance, the benefit organized by Shelton and his associates to help those hardest-hit by the Oklahoma wildfire epidemic, there'll be an archery tournament - as well as a team-roping rodeo event - to go along with a big country-music show.

In fact, all of the stars featured in the concert will also be competing in the archery contest.

In addition to Shelton, that roster includes veteran country star Tracy Byrd (whose long list of hits includes "I'm From the Country" and "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo"), fellow Oklahoman Keith Anderson ("Pickin' Wildflowers"), Craig Morgan ("That's What I Love About Sunday") and Andy Griggs ("She's More").

Shelton himself has amassed a pretty impressive list of hit country tunes, including the No. 1 singles "The Baby" and "Some Beach." His most recent single, "Nobody But Me," was a top-five hit, and he just got off the road after a long stint as the opening act on the hugely successful Rascal Flatts tour.

"It feels good to be off the road, and it kind of sucks at the same time," he admitted. "It's nice to go back to doing an hour-and- a-half show, instead of an opening show, but it's definitely going back to reality for me.

"On that tour, we were getting 12,000 to 15,000 people a night, depending on where we were. Now, I'm back to playing fairs and stuff, and building my career - and they (Rascal Flatts) really helped me with that."

In addition to paying attention to his career, Shelton has taken the time to not only appear in but also to organize this benefit event.

He started thinking about it, he noted, after visiting Ada during the Christmas holidays.

"It wasn't any particular family or anything that made me want to do this," he said. "I was just blown away by what I saw. I mean, I remember seeing fires around when I was growing up, but nothing like this. When I was driving around, I'd see smoke everywhere. There were so many wildfires, it looked like there were volcanoes off in the distance.

"A couple of weeks after that, I got a call from a friend of mine at the radio station in Ada," he added. "His name's Mike Manus, and he said, 'Well, we'd better think about doing something. We're not even in the fire season yet.'"

So Shelton and his wife, along with Manus, began putting Raindance together - which quickly became, among other things, a learning experience.

"To be honest with you, we didn't realize what we were getting into," he said. "We didn't know about the attention it would draw. But we're learning as we go.

"At first, we thought of giving the money we raised to rural fire departments, but the state was taking care of them. So then we thought about farmers, and people who maybe don't have enough insurance. There are a lot of families who want to remain anonymous, so it's a matter of giving to the agencies that are helping the people who were hit the hardest.

"We're not talking about people who've fallen on hard times," he added. "We're talking about Mother Nature taking over, and that's a different situation."

In addition to the country stars who are helping out by appearing at the concert, other country acts have donated items to the silent auction. And they're far from the only people making a contribution.

"I actually called Sundowner Trailers and said, 'This is Blake Shelton, and I need a trailer (for the auction)," he said, chuckling as though he couldn't believe it himself. "It's the strangest call I've ever made. But they said, 'We can tell you're sincere,' and they donated what's probably a $13,000 or $14,000 horse trailer. Everyone's stepped up like that. It's amazing the support we've had.

"For me, I can offer myself, and I have a lot of friends who are offering their own talents," he concluded. "And if people want to come out and pay money to see them, it'll go someplace where it'll do a lot of good."