The Evansville Courier (July 21st 2005)
Shelton likes chance to stay in touch
A couple of weeks ago, Blake Shelton had a break in his schedule.
The up-and-coming/almost-at-the-top country singer was touring with Rascal Flatts. It was midweek and he didn't want to sit around on the bus, so "I called a little bar in town and told 'em we'd like to come in that night and play," Shelton said.
"I do that a lot when we've got a night off. It's fun for me and fun for the fans. We all get a chance to enjoy music in a different setting, different atmosphere."
It's also one of the reasons Shelton enjoys playing county fairs. Not just the big state fairs, but the smaller ones where he's more in touch with the crowd. He'll be at the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair Wednesday night.
"I know it sounds corny, but we just love music and love having the opportunity to perform," he said. "Playing smaller venues is what I'd be doing if I weren't doing this for a living."
That's all part of his new philosophy: Worry less about the charts and concentrate more on the music. "In some ways, I've always done that. But I'm stepping it up. I can't honestly say I don't care about (radio airplay). But I'm more concerned than ever about being happy with my music."
Shelton is no stranger to Evansville country music fans. He was here twice in 2004, first with Rascal Flatts in February and again in July with Montgomery Gentry.
Both times, he treated the audience to songs they knew: "Austin," "Ol' Red," "The Baby," "Same Old Song" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World." At the latter show, he also played songs from his new CD, including "Cotton Pickin' Time," "Some Beach," "Love Gets in the Way," "Good Old Boy, Bad Old Boyfriend" and "Goodbye Time."
His latest CD, and the tour named for it, is "Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill." All of the songs give you that "sittin' around the barn with a beer and good friends" quality he's been striving to find.
"This is the record where it all came together. Two singles (`Goodbye Time' and `Some Beach') have been big hits for us."
Even the process of making the album was fulfilling for Shelton, who said he sat down, pulled out a bunch of songs -- some he wrote, some others wrote and sent to him -- and selected 11 for the album.
"All of them were songs I had and couldn't forget about, songs that just had something about them. It hit me that this was the type of music I should be doing."
His traditional country sound has stayed the same as on his first two albums.
"It's more the subject matter than the sound," Shelton said. "The lyrics are more country than the other two. More lifestyle songs. Lots of drinkin' and fightin' and breakin' up. And a good amount of sarcasm."
Shelton let out a big, deep laugh and added, "I don't know that I have many options, soundwise. I can try to do a lot of things, but the second I open my mouth, it'll be traditional-sounding country."
He said he never wants to abandon who he really is, but he wants to keep the music "new all the time, too."
"I have to reinvent that traditional sound for myself. It helps to have a strong producer and an open mind. Bobby Braddock (his producer) has ideas that haven't been thought of, ideas that haven't been used by anyone before."
Naming Shelton's third CD was one of those ideas. "We were in the studio about to finish up this album. Bobby said, `What're you gonna call this thing?' We didn't even have an album title in mind.
"I said, `I wish we were naming a bar. It'd be a lot easier to name a bar than to name an album.' And Bobby said, `Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill.'
"He knows my lifestyle and knows me. It fit, and we never mentioned another title. We just knew.
"I think that's an important part of this business. This life. That gut instinct that just tells you when something's right. At this point, at this time, things just feel ‘right.'"