Front Row Magazine (May/June 2002)

Blake Shelton's All Grown Up

Ahhh, that old adage about doing business made a big dent in Blake Shelton's life: It's not necessarily what you do - it's who you know.

Nashville newcomer Shelton met and impressed Mae Boren Axton, then her famous son, Hoyt Axton, and a producer-songwriter named Bobby Braddock. And they all pointed Shelton to a country career that the 25-year-old is definitely ready for.

And now Shelton is up for the ACM "top new male vocalist" award in this month's award show in Los Angeles.

The Warner Bros. Records singer has released his initial CD, "Blake Shelton," and now is getting airplay and attention for its singles, the first one "Austin," which rolled up the Top 20 charts recently. "My God, that song just slaps you in the face," he says. But he's also enamored with another one, "All Over Me," which he co-wrote with noted songwriter Earl Thomas Conley.
"Blake Shelton" is a breakout success for the young singer who grew up in Oklahoma. He learned to play guitar from an uncle with whom he'd go fishing and then learn chords and guitar licks. He even wrote his first song at age 15, "but it wasn't very good."

When Shelton was about 8, he liked to sing in his bedroom, which apparently entertained his mother enough to get into talent shows. "She thought I was cute and said it was time to show me off to others. So, she entered me in a talent show. The first time I got onstage, it was with 50 others - all girls," he emphasizes. "Little girls. When you're 8, you don't like girls. I was so embarrassed I told my mom I didn't want to sing any more."

Five years later, Blake decided it was time to sing again, performing in front of an audience of country music fans in his hometown of Ada, Okla. And he soon began performing more seriously. At 17, he met Mae Axton when she came back to her native Oklahoma for a tribute show that included Shelton in the entertainment lineup. He says she liked what he did and encouraged him to move to Nashville.

Of course, it was no idle comment coming from Mae, who co-wrote one of pop music's best-known songs, the early Elvis Presley hit, "Heartbreak Hotel." In 1994, fresh out of high school, Blake took her advice and moved. Although only 17, he had friends who helped him get an apartment and utilities and then he went to work. Not singing right away, but painting Mae Axton's house. "When I got there, I called her and asked her what she wanted to do, and she said I could paint her house."

The family reunion at Mae's house had son Hoyt, also a noted songwriter and recording artist over the years, staying in his tour bus in the driveway. Blake and Hoyt became pals and the youngster collected a ton of stories and advice. (Both Mae and Hoyt died in recent years.)

Shelton soon found a job making tape copies of writer's songs at Writers' Nights in Nashville. In 1997, he met producer Braddock, who over the years had written country masterpieces like "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Braddock took the young singer on and got him signed to Tree Productions. The first song he recorded was "Old Red," which is on the debut CD, and ironically a tune Hoyt Axton had sung for him during conversations on the tour bus.

The album is pure country, from honky tonk to modern, and his voice is in control at all times. He's even made it to the hallowed stage for his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. "It was a religious experience," he says, "walking around that slab of wood on the stage from the old Ryman Auditorium. All the legends have walked on that."

Blake Shelton is a bright new talent who's on the way to big things. And he might even enjoy performing with 50 pretty girls - all grown up.