Oklahoma Music Magazine (May 27th 2003)

Off Center

Where's the fun in being "standard?" Blake Shelton sure doesn't know. From his longish hair, devil-may-care attitude and throwback sound, the dreamer with a hit-making answering machine is succeeding against the Nashville norm.

You could say Blake Shelton provides a textbook example of how to make it in the sometimes heartless and cruel music industry. And it's ironic when you consider textbooks were the furthest thing from the performer's mind as a youngster growing up in Ada.

"I never had any other aspirations than to be a singer," says Shelton, admitting studying wasn't in the books. Music and fishing—not necessarily in that order—were his passions. Once he was old enough to drive, for instance, Shelton would fish every day after school. Music by his favorite country artists accompanied him on the trips. Upon returning home, his bait and fishing pole was replaced by his guitar and a good piece of sheet music.

Turns out the foundation for Shelton's career was laid the day he met Ada native and songwriter Mae Boren Axton, who penned "Heartbreak Hotel." Axton, mother of Hoyt Axton, encouraged Shelton to look her up if he ever made it to Nashville. A few years later, at the age of 17, the recent high school graduate bid farewell to his mother, who a beauty salon, and his father, owner of a used-car lot, and headed to Nashville to chase his dream of making it in the cutthroat music business.

Shelton was no different from the countless others who had gone before him, performers from small towns believing they had what it took to make it. However, Shelton had one distinct advantage—an acquaintance.

"I didn't know anybody else in Nashville. Mae Boren Axton introduced me to people and they introduced me to other people," he says.

Shelton's success didn't happen overnight. A variety of odd jobs, such as painting signs, helped make ends meet and allowed him to hone his talent. He admits there were times he wanted to throw his hands in the air, his guitar in the car and hit the road back to Ada.

"After the third year or so, I turned 21 and realized that all my friends were graduating from college," Shelton says. "I started thinking, 'Man, this could have been a huge mistake.' My worst fear was becoming one of those people who you see around Nashville in these bars, talking about when they had a record deal and lost it."

While Shelton knew deep down he had the talent and desire to make it, undeniable doubts were growing stronger by the day. Those feelings were about to change thanks to Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who penned such country mainstays as "He Stopped Loving Her Today," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Time Marches On."

Shelton had sent a demo to Braddock, who liked what he heard in the Oklahoma youngster. Braddock took Shelton under his wing, becoming his record producer. Shelton received more than just a producer, however. He also became the recipient of songs written by one of the most creative minds in the industry and a member of the legendary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In less than four months with Braddock at the helm, Shelton had a record deal and soon burst onto the national scene when his ballad about the answering machine, "Austin," skyrocketed to No. 1 on the country charts, where it stayed for an amazing five weeks. He followed that with the heartbreaking "All Over Me," and "Ol' Red," the tale of a prison dog.

In addition to chart-topping singles and videos, Shelton has received awards from Billboard, Country Weekly and Music Row magazines, and received a gold record to boot.

Earlier this year, Shelton released his second CD, The Dreamer, which critics praised for its "fun '70s feel." Shelton even covers "Georgia in a Jug," written by Braddock and recorded by Johnny Paycheck in 1978.

Shelton may represent the up-and-coming face of country music, but he refuses to turn his back on the past. This is most apparent in the throwback sound of The Dreamer. "The Grand Old Opry in Nashville and venues like Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa are places I will never tire of playing, because there's so much history," he says.

Throwing names of legendary venues around still doesn't come easy for Shelton. After all, not long ago he was playing smoky bars and honky-tonks in an effort to get his music out. He'd just as soon forget one such gig in a northern Arkansas bar that would bust at the seams if more than 50 people showed up. Not to worry; less than 20 people made up the rowdy audience.

"We just jumped out on stage and still put on a show."

If the crowd isn't what it should be, he still gets a charge out of doing what he most loves—performing. While Shelton admits it's easy to get burned out playing honky-tonks, he isn't about to complain. "I get to do what I love for a living, and there aren't too many people who can say that," he says.

Now that he's on the road to superstardom, does he find himself making compromises in the name of the almighty label?

"I'm different than anybody around," he defends. "I can't be anybody but myself." And he makes no bones about not being afraid to record controversial music. "At the end of the day, I want to be remembered for music people don't forget."

Shelton wants to be remembered for the music rather than what he stands for individually. Perhaps this philosophy can be traced directly to his childhood inspirations, Earl Thomas Conley (with whom Shelton co-wrote "All Over Me") and Travis Tritt. "I really look up to anybody who is left of center and stands out from the crowd, and really is different from the rest."

In an industry driven by image, it's clear Shelton refuses to be labeled. This, says longtime artist agent Ray Bingham, is what makes the music industry "one of the strangest in the world. You have to portray a personality that makes people want to know you personally. You have to project that image that every mother wants to mother you, girls want to court you and guys aren't threatened by you."

Bingham says it also takes tunnel vision and focus to get to the top, and being in the right place at the right time certainly doesn't hurt—all traits that can be traced back to Shelton, whose music includes such gritty workingman songs as "Asphalt Cowboy" to deeply emotional ballads such as "The Dreamer" and "Underneath the Same Moon."

Now that he's enjoying a "sky's the limit" career, will Shelton be there to support fledgling Oklahoma artists?

"I think all artists who are having success owe something to other Oklahoma performers," he says. "I really think these up-and-coming performers need to have the benefit of the doubt. I will give them advice and tell them what I know about the business."

At the age of 26, this dreamer has already forgotten more than most entertainers will ever know, and he's just starting on what no doubt will be a textbook career.