The Blade
Poet, comic, superstar Blake Shelton comes to Toledo
It's a Monday, and Blake Shelton is being shouted at and pulled in several directions at once during a photo shoot for The Voice. And this is an easy day. The next day he'll be filming for close to 12 hours, then 12 hours the next as producers of the surprise NBC hit try to nail down video for the preliminary rounds of the reality singing show, which begins its second season Feb. 5 after the Super Bowl.
He's running an hour late for an interview, and his publicist isn't having much luck finding someone on the TV production side of things who cares. For Shelton, a native Oklahoman, this is now his life: he's part Hollywood, part Nashville.
He won't say it, but there's little doubt that one of the main reasons The Voice was a breakout hit was because of him. He had immediate chemistry with fellow judges and musical superstars Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguilera. And Shelton's unique brand of humor resonated with viewers. His Twitter followers soared during the first season and now number more than 800,000.
In Nashville, he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry at the end of 2010. He's the reigning Country Music Association male vocalist of the year, has multiple nominations for next month's Grammys show, five straight No. 1 hits, is married to fellow superstar Miranda Lambert, and is preparing to kick off his headlining tour at Toledo's Huntington Center on Thursday night.
It's a lot of success for one person, and he's afraid to think too deeply about how it's all happened.
"It freaks me out when I think about it too much," Shelton says when he finally makes his way to a phone.
One of the first times northwest Ohio country music fans were exposed to him was in Fort Loramie at Country Concert in 2002 -- about a year after "Austin" became a No. 1 hit and as "Ol' Red" was climbing the charts. A lasting memory for fans was how clumsy the 6-foot-5 Shelton was. At one point, he stumbled over a speaker and almost crashed to the stage. Now, he's a seasoned performer who will bring a multi-million dollar set to Toledo.
"We're swinging for the fence this year with the tour. You've got to lay it out on the line if you want to be one of those artists who get a lot of people to come out to their shows. We've got staging I've never seen before," he says, before stopping to chuckle. "If you knew how odd it is for me to talk about this stuff ... because I've never cared about it before. I'm the kind of guy who likes to get out there and sing. I'm a musician, but even I'm impressed by some of the cool stuff we've got."
It's not just the staging he's excited about. Dia Frampton, who he mentored last season on The Voice, will be opening for him. She finished a close second in the voting for The Voice winner.
"People always talk about how I coached her, but I learn as much from her as she's learned from me," Shelton says. "I don't know anybody as creative and unique and off the wall as Dia Frampton. She's always asking me, 'Am I too weird?' I just tell her, 'People don't think you're weird, they think you're cool.' No one has heard music like hers."
Shelton has had some headlining dates in the past, but this is pretty much his first full-blown headlining tour, and he's willing to learn as he goes.
"I don't ask other artists for too much advice. I'm afraid to do that too much because then you end up copying someone's show. One of my pet peeves about Nashville is that it tends to be copycatted. I don't want to do that. I've got to be different."
If he were looking for advice, a good place to start would be with Levine, Green, or Aguilera, each of whom he now considers a close friend, but he just laughs when asked if he ever leans on them for their opinions.
"I just lean on them at parties when I'm drinking and I need something to lean against."
There isn't any apparent jealousy among the four judges, even when it comes to one of Shelton's passions -- his Twitter account. Told that Levine has him beat by about 400,000 followers, Shelton doesn't miss a beat.
"I can't believe he doesn't have more. Maroon 5 are worldwide stars. Even I'm secure enough to tell you that Adam is one good-looking dude. He should have more."
It's not unusual for Shelton to make a crack like that. Nashville has experienced his style of humor for more than a decade. Now, his Twitter following is soaring because of the often wild and possibly inappropriate stories he'll tell. And for that, he's unrepentant.
"I think Warner Brothers [his label] probably has a meeting once a day to figure out how to cover up stuff I say," Shelton says, chuckling mischievously. "I really do live up to my initials. If someone wants to hate me, they'll find a reason to. I'm not a politician. I'm not trying to get voted into office. People that relate to me, relate to me in a big way. I will sit down and have a beer with you. I'm that same guy you see on The Voice or that you read on Twitter."
But Shelton's not just a comedy act. He's a serious musician and songwriter. When "God Gave Me You" hit the top of the charts in October, it was his fifth straight chart-topper and 10th of his career. His album, "Red River Blue," was released in July and as of Jan. 1 had sold 499,347 copies. His wife's current single, "Over You," is a soul-searing ballad written by Shelton and Lambert that is based on the death of his older brother, Richie, who was killed in a car accident when Shelton was 14 years old.
So whether you think of him as a comic or a poet, you still have to call him a superstar, a moniker with which he's still trying to get comfortable.
"I was asking my manager the other day if anyone is buying tickets to these shows. He told me, 'There are going to be a lot of people at your show in Toledo.' Ironically, it's been 11 years after my first hit that this is all turning into what I dreamed it would be. Since it's taken so long, it feels even more special."
Q&A with singer Blake Shelton
Sometimes when you get Blake Shelton talking, you never know what he's going to say, and sometimes he talks so much you can't fit it all in a story. Here is additional material from my conversation with Shelton:
Q: You've accomplished so much over the past couple of years, what is your proudest accomplishment?
A: I'm pretty proud of the Grand Ole Opry induction. That's a big one for me. There are always brighter spots when you're in the moment -- like the Grammy nominations -- but when all is said and done, that Grand Ole Opry induction is a big deal to me. When your career comes and goes, that's the thing I'll probably be most proud of. To be a member of a country music family at that level -- from your heroes to your peers -- that's pretty cool.
Q: What do you still want to accomplish?
A: I still want a platinum album. For whatever reason, we've been close and had singles sell over a million copies, but I still haven't had a platinum record yet. [Editor's note: Shelton's debut "Blake Shelton" is his top-selling album with 813,000 copies. A platinum needs sales of 1 million copies.] My goal used to be to have a greatest hits record out there. I said everyone would then know I made a mark. My greatest hits and new album are both gold, and that's a bigger deal than having a No. 1 record on the radio.
Q: Why do you think people are connecting so well with you right now.
A: The Voice -- most recently -- has had the biggest impact on my career, but I like to think I got that opportunity to do The Voice because people figured out my sense of humor and all these things came together at once. I like to think it's the right music at the right time -- whether it's 'Who Are You When I'm Not Looking' or 'Hillbilly Bone.' There have been a lot of hits mixed in with good record sales, The Voice, hosting the ACMs -- all the media coverage around Miranda and I's wedding. Believe it or not, that was just a simple wedding that got turned into a bigger deal than either of us thought it would. All of that stuff, there are so many reasons for people to hear my name or see my photo. All of a sudden, it all clicks at once. It just seems like next year, shoot, maybe we can figure out a way to have an anniversary party and get some more media coverage.
Q: You wrote "Over You" with Miranda, and it's about your brother. Why did you give it to Miranda to record and not keep it for yourself?
A: Writing of the song was closure for me. Finally, I had the perfect closure for the memory of my brother and what happened. Honestly, I wouldn't want to relive that every night. I'm proud that she's the one who cut it because I love her and she's my wife.
Q: How do you guys deal with your celebrity?
A: We live in Tishomingo, Okla. We don't experience it that much. There is no movie theater to go to, so we'll go fishing or hunting or go to the grocery store. People are used to us. It's always kind of shocking when people stop us on the street in L.A.
Q: So do you ever have to go back and delete any of your tweets?
A: I can get away with so much more now. If Carrie Underwood says, 'I just [wet] my pants,' it becomes a national headline. Carson Daly was complaining the other day that 'Blake can get on Twitter and say anything. He can say he gropes old men and get away with it. If I say that, my show is canceled.'
Q: It looks like you'll have a sellout, about 8,000 people.
A: That's going to be 8,000 drunk tweeting fans. But it will be a kid-friendly show. I save the dirty stuff for social media.