Rolling Stone (June 12th 2013)
Blake Shelton ‘Dying to Tour’
After last night’s episode of The Voice, Blake Shelton has a 67 percent chance of winning his third consecutive edition of the NBC hit show, with both the Swon Brothers and Danielle Bradbery joining Team Usher’s Michelle Chamuel in the finals.
Shelton’s “iconic summer” kicked off at the recent CMA Fan Fest in Nashville. “I’ve been dying to get out there and actually tour,” he says. “It’s been since last winter since I had a tour, and man, that’s too long. This is what I’m supposed to do. This is what I dreamed about when I was a kid – being able to go out on a big tour and connect with fans and celebrate the summer every night.”
It’s the size and scope of the tour that also has Shelton so excited. “We’re going out there with Jana Kramer and Easton Corbin this summer, and I’m doing it on a scale that I’ve never done before,” he says. “I’m headlining these great outdoor venues across the country, in places I only ever got to play before because I was opening for Rascal Flatts or George Strait, somebody like that, a Brad Paisley. I never dreamed this would actually be happening for me.”
At the recent Fan Fest, Shelton was happy to get some one-on-one time with fans, and he wanted to make the most of it playing summer games – things that remind him of being home at Oklahoma’s Lake Texoma, his summer haven. “I love getting the pontoon boat out, and I don’t get to do it as much anymore,” he says. “If I know in two weeks or a month from now I’ve got three days off, I can start planning for that stuff, getting out there with friends and family and relaxing, just floating around and hanging out.”
One game that would seem a natural, given his 6’5″ stature, is basketball. “Man, I’m too uncoordinated,” Shelton says. “I have the height, but I don’t have any of the ability whatsoever.”
His Voice rival Adam Levine is an ardent basketball player, and we would love to see that grudge match. Despite his lack of ability, Shelton says he’d still be game. “I’m not above tripping him and pushing him,” he says, laughing.