The Daily Oklahoman (Nov. 22nd 2008)
Oklahoma singer reinvents self
The concept of home has possessed particular meaning the past few years for Oklahoma country music star Blake Shelton.
The Ada native moved back to his home state from Nashville, Tenn., three years ago, setting up his homestead on a Tishomingo farm. A year ago, his girlfriend, fellow country star Miranda Lambert, bought land just a few miles away.
And earlier this year, the couple recorded their first project together, a cover of Canadian crooner Michael Buble's hit ballad "Home," with Shelton taking the lead and Lambert singing harmony vocals.
The heartfelt love song became the fourth No. 1 hit of Shelton's career -- and much more.
"I think it was a statement to the country music industry that, 'You know, look, damn it, I'm not going away. And I know it's been a while between No. 1 hits, but this is still what I want to do with my life.'" Shelton said with a laugh during a recent phone interview from Nashville, where he and Lambert attended the CMA Awards.
"I do other things sometimes like (last year's reality TV special) 'Clash of the Choirs' and different little deals. ... But my life and my passion will always be country music first and foremost. And I won't stop at anything to be able to make my records and get 'em in front of people."
Not only did Warner Bros. re-release Shelton's 2007 album "Pure BS" with "Home" as a bonus track, the hit also gave his career enough momentum that the label moved the release of his fifth studio album from early 2009 to this week. "Startin' Fires" came out Tuesday.
Shelton puts in a powerhouse performance on the album's lead single, the impassioned, heartbreaking ballad "She Wouldn't Be Gone," which has been steadily scaling the country charts. After the success of "Home," the singer felt confident to try a different approach on the new song.
"I think me coming with a pop cover, that surprised people, and when it worked, I saw that as an opportunity for me to try to do some new things while the door was open and kind of reinvent myself a little bit and do some things I've always wanted to do but never felt like I could get away with. And 'She Wouldn't Be Gone' is the perfect song; it's so different," he said.
Looking for love He expressed gratitude that the song has connected so quickly with fans. The lyrics center on a man desperately searching for his departed lover with hopes of setting their relationship right.
"You hit those choruses, and all that energy and the panic and the desperation that he's going through really comes out in that chorus, and I think that's why I'm able to sing such a sad song with so much energy and power."
The new album also features "Bare Skin Rug," a hilarious tribute to hillbilly romance he wrote and performed with Lambert. They recorded it by the fire pit behind Shelton's house -- the same spot where they penned it -- with flames crackling and crickets chirping in the background.
"We wanted to write a funny song because people've been pressuring us to do a duet for so long that we decided we were gonna write a duet that was kind of novelty and goofy. And we just kind of didn't want to play into everybody's hand of what they thought we should do as a country singing couple," he said.
Oklahoma life Shelton also celebrates the couple's rural Oklahoma lifestyle on the album with the tracks "Green," "Country Strong" and "Home Sweet Home."
"I've never been happier, and that's the God's honest truth. And I'm so proud when I tell people where I live," he said.
"You know, it's just part of me. Oklahoma's just a major, major part of the person I am, just the land and everything about it. The state of mind. It's just who I am."