Billboard (Nov. 1st 2017)
11 Funniest Moments From Blake Shelton's 'Texoma Shore' SiriusXM Album Release Party
If you’re a country fan or if you’ve watched even a single episode of The Voice, you’re aware that Blake Shelton is quite the jokester. So when the superstar gets the chance to play an intimate show for less than 400 people, of course his humorous antics are bound to take center stage.
The 41-year-old played New York’s The Cutting Room Tuesday (Oct. 31) to celebrate the release of his 11th album, Texoma Shore (out Nov. 3), in partnership with SiriusXM’s country station The Highway. Although the concert won’t broadcast until after the album is in the hands of Shelton’s fans, those in attendance got a little preview from the singer and even heard a few stories behind the songs -- but not without some classic BS humor.
“What are we callin' this thing? My album release tour announcement country freaks thing, or something like that?” Shelton quipped upon kicking off the show, hinting that he also had some hits coming. “I know I’ll get kicked in the nuts if I don’t play some songs I put out back in the day.”
That was just the beginning of the hilarity Shelton brought during the hour-long event, which included a mixture of new Texoma Shore tracks as well as some catalog classics.
Take a look at some of the best moments from the show, which will air on SiriusXM's The Highway on Friday, Nov 10 at 9:00 pm ET.
“Hope it doesn’t suck.”
While explaining the meaning behind his album title -- which refers to the lake at the border of Oklahoma and Texas in the area that he’s from -- Shelton acknowledged that it was his first time recording music on his home turf. “I’ve never done anything like that before, so, hope it doesn’t suck! Now that I say that I’m like ‘Oh my God, what was I thinkin’? Nashville’s right there!"
“They can kiss my ass.”
Before singing his tongue-and-cheek If I’m Honest single “She’s Got A Way With Words,” Shelton explained that while the song is meant to be silly, some people mocked him for his lyricism. “For purposes of this show, I’m kidding,” he said after his snarky remark, then adding a little kicker, "but they can kiss my ass."
“What time is it? Is it too early to drink?”
Although there weren’t any windows in the performance area, the event took place in the middle of a work day, which meant that not as many showgoers had glasses in their hands while watching the show. Naturally, Shelton still had a red Solo cup on stage with him, clearly thinking that it was 5 o’clock somewhere.
“Nobody went and got a drink? I figured it was a great time to bob your head on the way, maybe conga line… nothing.”
After wrapping his hit “Gonna,” Shelton was hoping that more people had joined him in his day drinking venture. According to his disappointed sentiment, he was still pretty much on his own.
“I started playing this riff and I thought ‘That’s kinda cool, I probably stole it.’”
While talking about a Texoma Shore track titled "Turning Me On” -- which is inspired by Shelton’s girlfriend, Gwen Stefani -- the singer explained that he thought up the song while killing time on his bus. Although he initially thought the riff may be from somewhere else, he said, “And then I thought, ‘No, I can’t think of anything that’s like.’ So I ended up writing up this chorus. My girlfriend wasn’t out there with me so I was thinking about her, and I ended up writing this song and it won’t be hard for you to figure out who it’s about.”
“You gotta remember, I’m from Oklahoma. And when I look at a map of this area, it’s all smashed in together.”
Shelton tried to get an idea of the crowd demographic (which was all seemingly New Yorkers and a few from New Jersey), he hinted that he’s had some rather uncomfortable encounters with folks who are a little touchy about where they’re from in the New York area. “People are so like, ‘I am not from The Bronx, I am from Manhattan. Don’t you ever!’ So I just wanted to know if… I won’t talk about it again."
“I know I got a cavity -- that hurt when the cold hit my teeth, dang it.”
Upon taking a swig of his drink about halfway through his 11-song set, Shelton realized that maybe he should see a dentist after the show.
“Let’s not get into college football, I’m trying to sell albums this week.”
A fan in the back of the room called out “Boomer Sooner!,” likely in hopes that Shelton would happily reply. Instead, he remained unbiased for the sake of the timing with his release: “I don’t like college football, I hate sports. I’m not political. I’m just a country singer. I don’t have opinions, I’m just a blank canvas for God sakes!"
“This is the first song I ever released, I might mess up. I’m gonna be reading some lips. Sing along, but not if you’re a bad singer -- I don’t want you to get me off key.”
Shelton’s longtime fans knew he was talking about “Austin,” and while they may have been singing along (well or not), Shelton didn’t seem to need any help once he got the song rolling.
“I would cheers but only one of you got a damn beer!”
One of the lone fellow drinkers in the audience tried to humor Shelton with a glass clink, but Shelton still couldn’t get over the amount of people who weren’t drinking at one of his shows.
“We’re gonna do the shit version.”
Before closing out the afternoon set with “Boys ‘Round Here,” Shelton explained that there’s two versions of his rowdy hit, the clean version and the shit version. He decided to go with the latter, and funny enough, the seemingly sober crowd loved it.