People Country (Dec. 8th 2014)

Blake Shelton Shares His Favorite Musical Memories

Remember the first concert you ever went to or the first album you ever bought? Blake Shelton does!

PEOPLE caught up with the Voice coach and asked him to share some of his favorite musical memories with us. His answers might surprise you.

First concert you ever saw? 

“Sawyer Brown and a guy named B. B. Watson came to Ada, Oklahoma, and played the Kerr Dome. I just couldn’t believe it. I mean, it was the first time I ever saw somebody in person that I’ve seen on TV. It was just so overwhelming. Mark Miller even had a broken leg. I remember he came out, and he had to sit on a stool the whole time to perform. It was probably the worst show of his life because he couldn’t dance, but to me it was just so cool.”

First album you bought with your own money?

“It was a single cassette, and I think it was ‘The Race Is On’ by Sawyer Brown. It might’ve been ‘Hillbilly Rock’ by Marty Stuart. One of those two. That’s back when cassettes had that big long f—ing plastic thing, so there’s no way you could steal it, and you had to go walking up there with that. You know what I’m talking about? You pull the cassette out, and it comes out for three feet.”

Song that reminds you of your struggling days in Nashville?

“I always loved Earl Thomas Conley, but it wasn’t until I was about 18 that I really started to appreciate what a great singer he was. He has a song called ‘What I’d Say’ that really takes me back. I’d listen to that thing a million times, just by myself in my studio apartment in Nashville, just trying to sing that. I wanted to sing like him, because I knew if I could, I maybe could make it one day. That song really takes me back.”

Your all-time favorite song?

”‘A Country Boy Can Survive’ by Hank Jr. It just covers it all for my lifestyle. I try to think of myself as an outlaw, a badass. And this song covers all that.”

Your set-the-mood song?

“I don’t need music for that.”

Song you wish you recorded?

“There’s so many! Chris Young‘s ‘Neon.’ That’s one of my favorite songs that’s come out in a long time.”

Song you sing in the shower?

“The Love Boat theme. ‘Love, exciting and new …’ – the reverb in the shower really sounds good on that one.”