Jolene's Kitchen (April 2002)

‘Once in a long long while’… an artist like Blake Shelton comes along.

I’m sure he didn’t think the title of the first song he ever wrote, at the age of 15, would someday be used as an opening line… to describe him. Blake has always stood out in the crowd, and not just because he’s 6’5" tall, with long brown hair and blue eyes. He’s truly humble, sweet, and has been working hard on his career since he was a little kid. So, how did he do in school? "I used to do real well in English and creative writing, when we had to write a story. If they’d give us a subject, I’d purposely try to find a different angle than I knew anyone else would use on the story. I remember one time we were supposed to write a story about a clown, I ended up writing a story about a rodeo clown, and I purposely thought, ‘What’s the oddest clown I can write a story about?’ Making up stories helped with songwriting. I still don’t consider myself a great songwriter. There are so many great writers in Nashville that make me want to just put up my pad and pencil and never try again. "

Blake always tried to find a different angle on the camera too! It’s no wonder he looks so natural in his videos, he’s had lots of practice over the years!

"I used to look forward to Christmas and Thanksgiving cause all the family would bring their video cameras. I used to make up a stupid story, or song, or poem. I’d wait until they were video taping the other kids opening their presents, then I’d jump in front of the camera. I just ate that stuff up for some reason."

"I’ve always loved the holidays! My Mom’s a great cook, she always came up with recipes. I told my Mom that I went somewhere and had a green bean casserole that I really liked. For some reason it was just something we never had. I said, ‘Mom make me a green bean casserole’. She’d never made one before, so she took a can of green beans and some of those cheese tortillini’s , and a can of chicken soup, and just threw all kinds of stuff in there, and threw a can of green beans on it. She said, ‘Well, it is a casserole! Just not what you thought it’d be.’ My girlfriend’s a great cook too. She makes this dish she calls Flash Roasted Ranch Chicken, she takes a breast of chicken, makes up some kind of sauce, and rolls the chicken in crushed tortilla chips, that’s the crust. I don’t know what she does, but man, she made it for me a couple of nights ago and that made my week! "

Blake describes his life now through the lines of an old song. "I was driving down the road and a song came on by James Walsh. He’s got a line about being a performer, ‘I haven’t changed, but everybody around me has.’ Sometimes I feel like that. He’s also got a line in there about how he’s bought a house and ‘ I’ve never been there, but they tell me it’s nice’. I just bought a farm west of Nashville with 125 acres and a little house. We’ve painted the interior of it. It had a lot of work that needed to be done with it, putting up sheet rock and stuff. We only had 2 days to paint the thing! We painted it in about 9 hours, which included putting on a second coat. Then I had to get back out on the road. I bought my farm sight unseen. It was a good buy. My girlfriend and manager went out and looked at it, I just had to take their word."

I later found out that while they were video taping the property for Blake, a deer walked in front of the camera. Being an avid deer hunter, that clinched the deal! He didn’t mind that the house needed some work. When he moved to Nashville at the age of 17, Hoyt Axton, and Hoyt’s mother Mae, took Blake under their wing. He gained a lot of experience listening to Hoyt telling stories about how to survive and be successful in the music business. He also gained a lot of experience honing his handyman crafts while painting Mae’s house. Hey, you gotta have something to fall back on…just in case!

So what kind of pets and animals will Blake have on his farm? “I grew up in Ada, Oklahoma. I was raised around cows. To be honest I probably wouldn’t give you a nickel for a horse. They’re beautiful, but they’ll throw ya’! You know, I’ve never milked a cow. I milked a goat before, not for any reason, just to see if I could." And it worked? "I guess so, it came out of there!" (Something tells me Blake will be raising beef cattle!)

Stardom (and/or boredom) has its price, even when it comes to pets. “I have 2 ducks at the farm… and a mouse. I bought this mouse back in December. I was out on the road, in Phoenix. It was one of the hardest runs we’ve ever made, 3 weeks without coming home. I think we had 2 nights off in 3 weeks, doing 19 shows. There was a big strip mall over by the club we were playing. I walked into a pet shop, and I walked out with an aquarium and a mouse. I spent $35 on that stupid mouse! We named it ‘Nasty’ cause it stunk so bad. We had him on the bus for about 2 weeks. Finally I just got so I keep him at the house. You know you expect one of those things to live for maybe 2 weeks. I don’t think you could kill this thing with a hammer. It gained about 3 times the weight he was when I bought him, and he’s just doing great. So I guess I’ve got a mouse for life now." I suggested Blake turn the mouse loose on the farm. "I don’t think he’d make it too long with all the critters that come and get in our trash. I don’t know how attached I am to Stinky, but I feel responsible for him."

In reality, I told Blake he’s just watching out for his $35 investment! He laughed, "I don’t think I’ll get much of a return on him."

If Blake got a hundred miles down the road, and forgot something… what’s the one thing he would make the bus driver turn around and go back for? Blake gives a big laugh here! "That’s easy to answer, because it’s actually happened! We were over 70 miles out and I made them go back because I forgot my guitar! I’ve got 8 guitars, but there’s been times when I’ve just misplaced all my stuff and have to drive all the way back to Centerville to get it." Blake says he can’t even complain now about airlines losing baggage!

Being on the road, and up in the air, are just two of the adjustments that Blake has had to make in the last year. "The biggest adjustment for me is trying to hang on to all of this and make the right decisions. It seemed like the hardest thing in the world to get a record deal. I tell you though, the work didn’t start until we had some success. All of a sudden, I went from a guy who slept til noon everyday, woke up ate a bowl of cereal, went back to bed, wrote a song at 2 o’clock in the morning, and stayed awake til daylight…to a guy within 3 months of that, who had 11 people that work for him. I never thought about that side of it. It makes you grow up real fast. You’ve got to put a team around you that you can trust in. I don’t have time to be involved in a lot of important decisions that will affect me. So I have to rely on them to make those decisions for me. I feel like I have one of the best teams working for me with the success I’ve had so far."

For Blake, I compared the Country Radio Seminar to the Olympics. Now that he’s started his career with breaking records (5 weeks at #1 as a debut artist on Billboard), what’s next? "Now it’s, ‘Show us what else you’ve got’! We came out and did ‘Ol Red’, my next release, and got a great response. I know all of these people now, and feel like I have something to prove to them. I think I’m up to the challenge."

Blake has the best thing going for him to help him meet any challenge in life, a loving family. His parents Dick and Dorothy, and his older sister Endy. His older brother died in a car accident at the age of 24. " I was 14, my sister was 18. The bond that you have with your brother is like no other. You can tell ‘em you hate ‘em, punch ‘em in the nose, but the minute you see somebody else doing it to ‘em…they’re dead. There’s something there, that’s only there with brothers. My family has always supported me in whatever I wanted to do. They didn’t really give me advice when I left for Nashville, they just said, ‘If this doesn’t work out, it’s okay. We love you, and you’re always welcome back home.’

Recipe: Blake Shelton's ‘Campbells Green Bean Casserole’

Mix 1 can (10 ¾ oz.) Campbells cream of mushroom soup, ½ cup milk, 1 tsp. Soy sauce, 4 cups cooked green beans, 2/3 cup French’s French Fried onions in 1 ½ qt. Casserole dish, Bake at 350 for 25 minutes

Stir & sprinkle with remaining ¾ cup French Fried onions, Bake 5 minutes, serves 6