Arizona Daily Star (Feb. 21st 2008)
No choir boy
On the final night of Country Thunder USA 2005, Blake Shelton hopped behind the wheel of a golf cart and ripped through the pockmarked dirt trails, following supergroup Rascal Flatts.
The golf cart entourage slipped into the festival campgrounds in Florence and sidled up to groups of fans reveling in after-concert parties. Within seconds, the whole scene turned into a scream fest that brought literally hundreds of fans storming the small campgrounds.
"Oh yeah, I remember that clearly," Shelton said in a phone call last month from Dallas. "Quite a reputation I've cut out for myself up there, huh?"
Indeed, which is why seeing Shelton, 31, lead a straight-laced choir in NBC's "Clash of the Choirs" reality show just before Christmas was, well, a bit shocking.
We never quite imagined Shelton as choir boy.
"I don't either, honestly," he said with a chuckle. "But we got a call from the powers that be at NBC. . . . They asked if I would do this thing."
The show, which aired over four nights in December, "turned out to be something that I think is pretty pivotal in my career," Shelton reflected. "To go on NBC four nights in a row. That was pretty unbelievable to have that opportunity.
"Going into New York to film 'Clash of the Choirs' was easy; flying back home wasn't. It was amazing the impact that show had as far as people learning who I was and putting a face to the name. It definitely was an impact for me."
Shelton, who plays Desert Diamond Casino on Saturday, capitalized on his newfound popularity early this month when he released a richly countrified version of the Michael Buble hit ballad, "Home."
Shelton recorded the song at year's end with girlfriend Miranda Lambert chiming in on backup vocals. His version replaces Buble's jazz-influenced piano with acoustic and steel guitar. He also brings a soulful vocal twang that nails the song's emotional layers.
"Home" -- not to be confused with the uptempo song "Home" that Shelton and his choir sang to open last weekend's NASCAR races -- was released to radio Feb. 5. In May, the song will land on a rereleased version of Shelton's year-old fourth album "Pure B.S." The album has so far spun two singles -- the ballad "Don't Make Me" and the drinking ode "The More I Drink."
Shelton is hoping "Home" will elevate sales of "Pure B.S." to the platinum mark. In his eight-year, four-album career, platinum sales have eluded him, despite charting several singles in the Top 10 and scoring a couple No. 1 hits. His first three albums were certified gold (500,000 in sales).
"We're always looking for a way to step up to the next level, so we are going to try this," Shelton said.
"I still think ('Pure B.S.') is the best album that I could make, but you have to always be thinking, what's the next big thing I can do to get to the next level?"
Shelton still trying to settle wager with girlfriend Lambert
Neotraditional country singer Blake Shelton and his rising country star girlfriend Miranda Lambert made a bet last May: Whose album will sell the most copies in the first week?
She won; he still hasn't paid up. The prize: A dream vacation for two.
Over the holidays, the couple took their families to Mexico "and I thought I might get away with calling that the dream vacation. She's informed me that wasn't it because we had our families with us. So I still owe her one, I guess," Shelton said in an interview from Dallas last month.
Hunting is also out.
"I told her how romantic a bear hunt in Canada would be, and she wouldn't buy that, either. I think it's going to be somewhere warm with water."
Shelton and Lambert both released records last May 1. Hers sold 53,000 copies in the first week; he sold 48,500.
Shelton said he's not jealous of Lambert's success, which in her three-year, two-album career has included several charted singles, a 2008 Grammy nomination and the 2007 Academy of Country Music nod for Top New Female.
"Right now, she and I are competitive in our careers, and hers has definitely taken off quicker than mine did in the early stages. . . . Sooner or later, she is going to take off and become a headliner, and I will be happy to open for her at that time," he said.
"Anytime something great happens to her, it makes her happy, and that makes me happy. She is definitely an important artist in country music. She is not a flavor of the month. . . . She's got a new sound, and that's not easy to get away with in country music."