Roughstock (March 21st 2013)

Blake Shelton "Based On A True Story..." Song-By-Song

Blake Shelton's 2013 album comes at a time when his star couldn't be any brighter. The three-time CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and reigning Entertainer of the Year (and well-read Tweeter) is set to deliver Based On A True Story... to fans next Tuesday. Here for your reading pleasure is a song by song from Blake that showcases his thoughts on each of the tracks from the record and what made him want to record the 12 tracks that make up Based On a True Story.... 

BOYS 'ROUND HERE (FEAT. PISTOL ANNIES & FRIENDS)

Written by Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Craig Wiseman

That song had me from the first, ‘cause I thought about all the guys I know back in Tishamingo. None of them listened to The Beatles. They listened to Hank, or these days you’ll hear Jason Aldean blaring out of somebody’s car coming from a mile away. It’s just how they are, and that song is just written exactly how I live. I get help from RaeLynn from The Voice, and the Pistol Annies, and even my producer Scott Hendricks and the writers Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson, who does the 'red red red redneck.' 

SURE BE COOL IF YOU DID

Written by Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Jimmy Robbins

I had an e-mail from my manager Brandon Blackstock, and he said, 'Man, this is a cool song, you need to listen to it.' I did, and I was like, 'Holy Cow!' Rodney's a great singer and it was him singing on the demo and they just did a great job. My only fear was, 'I hope I can make my record as good as what they’ve done.' We spent a lot of time working on that track because it’s kind of a new sound for country music. It's got a little bit of an R&B; feel to it and some sounds before it just turns into a straight-up country song about a guy trying to pick up a girl. It’s different from start to finish. 

DO YOU REMEMBER

Written by Michael Dulaney, Will Gray, Ian Kirkpatrick

When [producer] Scott [Hendricks] is adamant about something, he’s sneaky. 'Do You Remember' is a song he sent to me with different singers, guitar/vocals, full demos, a guy singing it, a girl singing it, just because he knew that it was a special song that I just couldn’t get into it for the longest time. And then one day I was back home in Oklahoma and I put in a disc of songs that he sent me and there the damn thing was again. It was like, 'What has he done!?' Next thing you know I was singing along! I was like, 'Man, he’s right! This is a great song!' And I called him and I said, 'Let’s cut, 'Do You Remember' and he sent back, 'This is the greatest day ever! Yeah!' And just shows you, I mean Scott, he knows what he’s doing, he knows the great song and it also shows that he’s learned how to work me.

SMALL TOWN BIG TIME

Written by Craig Wiseman, Clint Lagerberg

Nothing gets me more excited than when I see Craig Wiseman's name on a CD. I know at the very least it’s going to be very entertaining. And when 'Small Town Big Time' came, I was prepared to be entertained, but what I wasn’t prepared for was how dead on it was. It sounds like he wrote a song knowing my situation in Hollywood. ‘Cause I have some friends out there and people that I’ve become very close to and care about, and it’s ironic because that is not where I ever thought I would end up for any amount of time. But every night when I’m there I’m thinking about and wondering what they’re doing back in Oklahoma or Tennessee. 

COUNTRY ON THE RADIO

Written by Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Craig Wiseman

If there was ever a song that I thought, 'Man, this song actually could be a hit,' this is it. I never really know for sure, but when I heard 'Country on the Radio,' I thought, 'Man, country radio ought to play this one. It’s about them!' Country radio created my personality and my career and my life, I mean it really did. I'd listen to Bob Kingsley's countdown every week and write down the top ten songs and bring it to art class in high school and read 'em off to people. I listened to the radio way more than I bought albums and discovered a lot of great music through the countdown. And I just love that song so much because it's about that relationship. And it’s just one of the most perfect songs that I have ever had a chance to record.

MY EYES (FEAT. GWEN SEBASTIAN)

Written by Josh Osborne, Tommy Lee James, Andrew Dorff

Gwen Sebastian was on my team on The Voice and she became friends with Miranda and me. After the show aired I was at home one day and we were putting together my tour for last year and I needed a background singer. I thought, Gwen! She toured with me all last year and hopefully she’s going to again this year. When we cut 'My Eyes,' I could hear her singing it with me because there’s some ad lib stuff that only she could do. Gwen is doing all the harmonies, she just sounds so good on that record and I just love that girl. 

DOIN' WHAT SHE LIKES

Written by Phil O'Donnell, Wade Kirby 

Lyrically, this is about Miranda and it’s also about how I should be more like this guy probably. But every now and then there’s a day where it’s like, 'You know what, we’re not doing anything tomorrow, so I’m just going to do whatever you want to do tomorrow. I’m gonna be your sidekick,' you know, and she loves that. And that’s kind of what attracted me to the song, and also I just think it’s a great song. 

I STILL GOT A FINGER

Written by Craig Wiseman, Gary Hannan

This is like the new version of 'Take This Job and Shove It,' because this is a guy that's working his butt off, doing everything he can and his boss just keeps asking for more and finally one day he’s broke down, he’s hurting but he still has a finger that works and I guess he flips off his boss and leaves, you know? And he goes home and he’s give out and his girlfriend is going out on the town and leaving him there and he’s got a finger for her too. The song’s just so much fun and there’s something about pretending that you’d actually do those things because so many times in the real world, about least once a day, it’s like, man I wish I could.

MINE WOULD BE YOU

Written by Deric Ruttan, Connie Harrington, Jessi Alexander

This is an incredibly well written and sexy song with a sad twist at the end. It's just such a cool song, one of the best songs that I’ve ever had a chance to record. It’s just one of those songs that somebody plays at the Bluebird and the room stops and everybody has chills. 

LAY LOW

Written by Tim Nichols, Dean Dillon, Dave Turnbull

This has Dean Dillon written all over it. It has that classic George Strait sound that Dean helped create. Lyrically, it pushes it a little bit, but that’s what I set out to do. And my life is about laying low when I can. Even in L.A., when we’re done taping, I get my butt in the car and I go home and watch the Weather Channel and see what’s going on back home until the next morning. Miranda loves it when she and I are home together and she gets her laptop out and she shops on line for things for her store and then I get her a blanket and I get her started in the morning with coffee, and then later in the day she wants some tea and then later in the day she wants me to mix her a drink--that’s the things we do together. And I can’t tell you how many times, you know, somebody’ll call and say, Hey, y’all want to go to dinner? And my answer is always, 'No, we’re just laying low today.' We just want to be together and sit in the house and not even go outside you know. That happens a lot with us. 

TEN TIMES CRAZIER

Written by Ben Hayslip, Marv Green, Rhett Akins

That's a song I heard for Neal McCoy when I worked with him and I played it for him and it just didn’t do it for him. I remember thinking, 'Oh, thank God he’s not into it! I want it for me,' and so I ended up cutting it. It reminds me of 'Honey Bee' a little bit, just 'cause it’s just fun and light-hearted. And those are my favorites. It's not too much to think about. It just is what it is.

GRANDDADDY’S GUN

Written by Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson

There’s such argument and controversy about so many things these days. You say the word “gun” and it’s just crazy. But the truth is I do have my grandpa’s gun and I’m proud of that, you know, and every bit of this song is true. It's myself and my dad. He gave me my grandpa’s 12-gauge and I’ve still got it. Actually, I was in the woods with it one time when I was a kid and tripped and fell on it and broke the stock and we just kind of fixed it the best we could and I love it that it’s that way because that's the mark that I made on the gun. At some point I’ll hopefully be able to pass that on to someone in my family and that big crack in the stock will be my story. I just love the song and I just love that what it’s about is not guns, it’s about the bonding that happened around this thing.