The Tennessean (Sept. 28th 2014)

Blake Shelton focuses on 'Sunshine'

Blake Shelton frames tabloid stories about wife Miranda Lambert's fictitious pregnancy and the supposed demise of their marriage and keeps them in the couple's home.

The reports are so ridiculous, he thinks they're funny.

"I'll tell you, she'll be pregnant; ... that one will be true before the divorce rumors are true," said the country singer and coach on NBC's popular singing competition "The Voice."

"We kind of found out the less we try to defend ourselves, the more it goes away. We're happy. What do you want us to do to show that we're happy?"

One such story implied that Shelton had an affair with pop singer Shakira, and it turned into a joke between the couple. Lambert told him if that rumor were true, she would probably give him a high five.

"We are really happy, and we really laugh about all of that stuff," Lambert said. "When we're not in work mode, what actually brought us together, which is country music, we don't bring that home. We're just normal people doing laundry, going to the grocery store, watching HGTV."

"It's just dumb," Shelton said. "But if (the gossip) is happening because we're popular, then (expletive). Bring it on. Pile it up. I can live with it." 

There's no disputing the popularity of Shelton and Lambert.

Shelton's had 12 consecutive No. 1 songs and has sold more than 7 million albums. He is a three-time winning coach on "The Voice."

With nine nominations, Lambert is the lead nominee going into November's 48th annual CMA Awards. All five of her albums -- including the latest, "Platinum" -- debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Shelton's 11th studio album, "Bringing Back the Sunshine," will be in stores Tuesday and could follow suit.

The couple could compete with each other, but instead they offer support. Lambert was with Shelton in New York City when the CMA nominations were read, and even though she bested him by six nods and they're both up for entertainer of the year, Shelton wants her to win.

"She pushes the boundaries," he said. "She's constantly reinventing herself. And she doesn't play any games. She's just Miranda Lambert, and it's just cool and there's nobody else like her in our format. There hasn't been anybody else like her in our format. It's exciting that we have one of those like that in our generation."

'I was blown away'

The couple also has a history of sharing songs. Years ago, Shelton gave Lambert one of her biggest hits, "The House That Built Me," even though it was sent to him to possibly record. The song made her cry, and he felt like it was the right thing to do. 

So she returned the favor on his new album with "Anyone Else." The lyrics include, "Why can't you be happy for anyone else."

"When I heard 'Anyone Else,' it hit me not as hard as 'House That Built Me' hit her," Shelton said. "I'm a guy. I can't cry, but I was blown away. I've been the guy that couldn't figure out why I couldn't get respect. No one will ever know who I'm thinking about when I sing that song. But I've also been the villain in the song. I've been jealous of people and not liked them for no reason."

"Anyone Else" is one of the more contemporary sounding tracks on the album. "Bringing Back the Sunshine" also includes a wide selection of material reminiscent of Shelton's early, more traditional sounding hits such as "Austin."

It's a sentiment also echoed on his album cover -- a photo of the water tower in his hometown of Ada, Okla. The picture is meant to signify that the music is a return to his country roots.

"When I was making this record, I told (producer) Scott (Hendricks) I wanted to find a way to bring it back country ... as much as we can and still make what we're doing interesting," Shelton said. "I'm as guilty as anybody of pushing the boundaries in country music and sometimes I turn on the radio and it's like, 'OK, I like everything I hear, but I'm also missing some things, too.'"

Those missing elements were the inspiration for his current single, "Neon Light." He thinks the song is a respectable blend of his most recent radio singles and his past hits. 

"That chorus is my best impersonation of George Strait," Shelton said. "I think it's important to take a step back every now and then and see what direction you're going in. I just felt like it was important for me to give those fans who may have bought my first three or four albums ... something to get pumped about again.” 

"I've always been one of those guys who would say, 'I like so and so, but I like his early stuff better.' I kinda want to be the guy that steps up and gives them something more reminiscent of that early stuff and mix it in with what I do now."

Living his dreams

Shelton didn't write any of the songs on the album because he said between touring and "The Voice," he doesn't have time. In fact, he said he can't remember writing a song since he and Lambert wrote "Over You." The mourning ballad won the Country Music Association's award for song of the year in 2012. 

To get the songs that made the album, a team of people at his record label, Warner Music Nashville, sifted through thousands of entrants to help find the 12 the singer eventually recorded. 

Hendricks said Shelton won't record anything that doesn't "fit him like a glove." The task is arduous but it's not insurmountable, especially when there are songwriters including Academy of Country Music song of the year winner Jessi Alexander writing songs specifically for Shelton.

She co-penned "Good Country Song" with Tommy Lee James and Matt Jenkins, and they wrote in lyrics about Shelton's favorite singer, Earl Thomas Conley, and his native Oklahoma.

"I accused her of being unfair because she wrote it so well that he couldn't say no," Hendricks said. "She said she wrote that song absolutely with Blake in mind."

"I swear to God, you'd think she was in the house with me growing up," Shelton said. "It's my story."

He also roped in personal friends to sing on the album, which makes the songs even more authentic. Shelton asked Lambert's best friend, singer/songwriter Ashley Monroe, to sing on ballad "Lonely Tonight." If the song is released and does well as a single, he hopes it helps elevate Monroe's solo career.

RaeLynn Woodward, 20, who was on Shelton's team during Season 2 of "The Voice," also makes a cameo, on "Buzzin'." The 20-year-old finds it hysterical that her former coach asked her to sing on a song about drinking when she is underage.

But she's also appreciative.

"Him and Miranda, they've completely taken me under their wing, and I feel so fortunate to have them in my life," said Woodward, who is now signed to The Valorie Music Co.

"When he said on 'The Voice,' 'I'm going to help you be a country star,' he has done everything in his power to keep his word on that. He means what he says, and I think that is why he is where he is, because he's such an awesome person."

Shelton may not have time to write his own songs or do much else, but he's excited about his new music and said he couldn't be happier.

"I'm literally having so much fun it should be illegal," he said. "Who would want down time if you got to do what I do? All I ever cared about doing, ever, ever, is being a country singer. Every day I wake up and it's just exciting right now. It's just fun." 

Tuning in to 'The Voice'

The new season of "The Voice" kicked off last week on NBC, and even with two new coaches -- Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani -- Blake Shelton said "it's going really good."

"Those two fell into a perfect fit," said Shelton, who returned as a coach for the show's seventh season along with Adam Levine. "I figured that those two would have a learning curve, but they didn't."

Shelton said Williams' background as a producer provided him with a solid skill set for the coaching gig. And Stefani, he learned, requested DVDs of every season of the show to watch at home to help her get prepared.

"She works hard," Shelton said of the No Doubt singer. "It was clear. She came in and she knew more about it than Adam and I. I really think the world of her and Pharrell. They are good people." 

Shelton also feels the contestants this season are top-notch -- maybe even too good. He said it makes it harder to justify eliminating people because their weaknesses are so negligible.

"We're having to make decisions that you never really know if they're right or not because they're all so good," Shelton said. "You just have to make a gut decision based on what you think you can do moving forward. And, a lot of times, it's not based on how great of a singer that person is because it's a dead tie over and over and over again. They are that good. I don't know where they come from." 

"The Voice" airs at 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.