The Boot (March 21st 2013)

Blake Shelton: ‘I Still Got A Finger’ is single-digit salute to bad bosses

Blake Shelton's new album, Based on a True Story... is just days away from being released, and one of the more buzzed-about tracks on the disc is sure to be the rabble-rousing (and profanity-laced) "I Still Got a Finger." Described by the country superstar as a modern version of the Johnny Paycheck classic, "Take This Job and Shove It," (written by David Allan Coe), the tune isn't exactly radio-friendly, but it shares a sentiment to which many of us can relate.

"It's a little edgier with the language," Blake told The Boot and other reporters at a recent media event. "I just love the idea, because nobody really ever does that but we all wish we could. It's just fun to hear that song and go, "Yeah! 'Son of a b----!' 'Kiss my ass!' even though you'll never do it, because you can't. It's fun to sing about stuff like that when you're in that mood and you're mad and it makes you feel cocky. That's a good feeling sometimes."

Although the song isn't likely to garner radio airplay (without a few edits, anyway), it's tailor-made for Blake's live performances. And that's something the reigning CMA Entertainer certainly has on his mind these days, making sure his live shows reflect that prestigious title. But it all starts, of course, with the songs.

"The only thing I've really done is try to put together a cool set list," Blake explains. "It's fun now ... it's neat to be in a place where you go, 'I can't do all these singles, it will take too long.' To have that luxury and to be that lucky is unbelievable to me, because the first ten years of touring, it was like, 'Oh, we'll do [George Strait's] 'All My Exes Live in Texas' and 'Friends in Low Places' [by Garth Brooks] and get the crowd going until I get to one of my songs. The Entertainer of the Year thing, carrying that, thinking about that going into touring, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking, 'Man, does that mean I have to shoot out of a cannon now?'"

While fans might think it would sure be cool if he did shoot out a cannon, Blake is happy to just be the same funny, entertaining guy audiences have come to love, even if he's not as confident of his abilities in that respect.

"I think people come to my shows expecting to hear as much comedy as they do music," he notes. "I'm not really good at that stuff but for some reason they expect that from me. So I have to go off on some rants and if there's not a little bit of banter up there, then the crowd feels like they got robbed a little bit. So I'll try and keep that in there as much as I can.”