The Boot (Nov. 12th 2010)

Blake Shelton has a ‘revelation’ with CMA male vocalist honor

Blake Shelton picked up his first trophy for CMA Male Vocalist of the Year this week, a feat he's been looking forward to for a while. A couple of years ago, Blake admitted that he wanted to be considered a guy who sings songs that are hard to sing, pushing himself as a vocalist. And he certainly has, showcasing his vocal talent in recent years with songs such as 'Home,' 'Goodbye Time,' 'Don't Make Me,' 'She Wouldn't Be Gone' and his latest, 'Who Are You When I'm Not Looking.'

"I want to be a guy that sings and writes songs that are like nobody else's out there, and I want to stand out on the radio," Blake told The Boot. "I don't want to try to figure out how to fit in anymore. I want to try to figure out how to break the mold."

He has certainly broken out of the box he was in, and has had probably the biggest year of his nearly decade-long career by topping the country charts with 'Hillbilly Bone' and 'All About Tonight,' releasing two six-song EPs as well as his first greatest hits collection, 'Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton,' becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry and earning his first two CMA Awards (Male and Musical Event of the Year for his collaboration with pal Trace Adkins on 'Hillbilly Bone').

So, backstage at Wednesday night's show, we asked him if he thought he had reached his goal of becoming a male vocalist. "I've been sitting in that audience out there for 11 years -- I've counted them -- watching three different groups of popular artists come and go in that amount of time, and I was never one of them," a subdued Blake answered. "In the last month, between the induction into the Grand Ole Opry and now this Male Vocalist of the Year, when you find out who you thought you were when you are a teenager and when you find that out when you're 34 years old, it's a big deal. It's a revelation. I love what I do, and you're not going to see anybody get on this stage and talk that loves country music, and I'll say knows more about it, than I do. I hope I'm standing up here 20 years from now just like George Strait and talking about that same freaking piece of glass right there and what it means to me then.”