The Tennessean (Dec. 5th 2019)

Blake Shelton on his relationship, radio resurgence: 'If you take God out of it, it doesn't make sense'

Blake Shelton was barely in his seat at the 53rd CMA Awards in November when he turned around and (jokingly) warned Dan + Shay he would rough them up if their “Speechless” topped his “God’s Country” for Single of the Year. Then, he heard his name called from the stage.

“God’s Country,” a multi-week No. 1 hit, won “The Voice” coach his first trophy from the Country Music Association in five years. Shocked by the recognition, Shelton dedicated his win to famed producer Busbee and the singer’s country music hero Earl Thomas Conley — both of whom recently died.

Backstage, he said before he heard “God’s Country” in early 2019, he thought he had lost his momentum. He felt his country music career was slipping. 

“‘How am I going to feel when this goes away?’” he remembers asking himself. “I was kind of having that pity party.”

“God’s Country,” which is from Shelton’s Dec. 13 release “Fully Loaded: God’s Country,” became his 26th No. 1 hit and heightened his presence on country radio.

2019 became the year Shelton found God — in more ways than one. It's is also the year Shelton felt his faith soar. He sings about it in “Jesus Got a Tight Grip,” a song he co-wrote with Chase McGill, Jessi Alexander and Rhett Akins, also included on “Fully Loaded: God’s Country.”

Lyrics include: Jesus got a tight grip on my soul and he ain’t letting go, he ain’t letting go/ The devil reaches out but he can’t grab hold because Jesus got a tight grip on my soul/Might have a little rust on my halo/But when I’m gone I know where I’ll go.

The afternoon after the CMA Awards, Shelton lounged on a couch in a dressing room over the bar at his Ole Red entertainment complex on Nashville’s Lower Broadway. He shared the inspiration behind his new dedication to God and how his faith impacts other parts of his life. It sparked, he said, with the start of his unlikely relationship with girlfriend Gwen Stefani. The two connected on the set of NBC’s “The Voice” while they were both mired in messy divorces.

“I believe in God now more than I ever have in my life,” said Shelton, who also admitted he still drinks and cusses more than he should. “The biggest part of that is just how (Gwen) came into my life and now our relationship. It’s just too weird. If you take God out of it, it doesn’t make sense. If you put God into it, everything that’s happened with us makes sense.”

Shelton and Stefani have been a couple since fall 2015. She convinced him to attend church regularly for the first time in his life, and he said he realized it was time to “turn a page.”

Four years later, they split their time between homes in California and his farm in his native Oklahoma. Shelton was driving his skid-steer around his land to clear some brush early this year when his producer Scott Hendricks sent him five or six new songs. Shelton grabbed his headphones to listen, and “God’s Country” was the first song he played. He called it a “revelation.” 

“It was the most shocking moment I’ve had in my 20 years of doing this,” Shelton said. “I was in a place that I consider to be God’s country doing the thing that makes me feel the most connected to God, which is working on the land. I heard that song, and I had one of those moments that you hear people talk about … where they say they pulled over on the side of the highway and listened. I literally had that moment.”

Until then, Shelton was unsure of his next career move. “God’s Country” shined a spotlight on his path.

Twenty weeks after its April release, “God’s Country” was one the fastest songs to top the country radio airplay charts that Shelton ever recorded, and it is the highest streaming song of his career. It became the title track to his new album — which is a mix of new songs and recent hits. In November, “God’s Country” was nominated for a Grammy Award. 

“The guy was doing just fine, but a game-changing song is something everyone hopes to find,” said John Esposito, chairman and CEO of Warner Music Nashville. “They don’t grow on trees. The fact we got that song, Blake got so excited about it, and there’s a ton of statistics to show how important it was in his career. But what it does for an artist’s psyche is immeasurable.” 

Written by HARDY, Jordan Schmidt and Devin Dawson, “God’s Country” changed the way Shelton listened for potential radio singles. Leaning back in the corner of the overstuffed leather couch, the singer said watching fans embrace the Southern rock vibe in “God’s Country” made him realize there’s still an appetite for the sound. 

“There is still the old-school segment of country music fans out there that are starved for that,” he said. “But even more than that is this new young generation of country music fans … who know ‘Country Boy Can Survive,’ and they want their generation’s version of that song. That really excited me to know that that part of country music is alive and well out there, it just hasn’t been fed.”

Charlie Cook, Vice President of Country at Cumulus Media, said Shelton is one of country radio’s “surest things” and that “God’s Country” grew the singer’s popularity even more. 

“Sometimes the lyrics of a song fit just right with the listener,” Cook said. “Country music fans buy into the sentiment of the song and add an act like Blake, who they hear on the radio all day and on TV a couple of times a week, and it works."

“Hell Right,” Shelton’s new fist-pumping duet and radio single with Trace Adkins, is also on the album, as are his hits including “Came Here to Forget,” “A Guy with a Girl,” “Every Time I Hear That Song” and “I’ll Name the Dogs” — all songs released since 2016.  

Stefani joins him on the new song “Nobody But You,” and Shelton said it feels like another recording that was meant to be. Written by prolific country hitmaker Shane McAnally along with Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne and Tommy Lee James, “Nobody But You” came to Shelton from several avenues.

McAnally told him about it when they bumped into each other on set at “The Voice.” Shelton was in a rush and asked McAnally to send “Nobody But You” to Stefani so he could hear it. Hendricks had a copy of the song, too, and also shipped it to Shelton. The couple listened to it as Shelton drove Stefani to her son’s school.

“I was just floored,” Shelton said. “I realized how important that song was for me, and where I am in my life right now. I think that’s why Shane was trying to get it to me because he knows enough about my personal life … to know, ‘This has got to get to Blake because it fits his story.’”

Shelton had already recorded another duet with Stefani — "Go Ahead and Break My Heart" — and was worried his record label wouldn’t want a second. He checked in with Hendricks to get permission before he asked Stefani to join him in the studio and got the green light.

“I just think it’s magical,” Shelton said. “I literally think it’s as important of a song as I’ve ever recorded. I want it to be out, like right now. I think it’s a big hit, to be honest. But, I just think it’s just timeless.”

Esposito explained the track list for “Fully Loaded: God’s Country” was another shining example of the power of a song. Before Shelton recorded “God’s Country,” he didn’t have “Hell Right” or “Nobody But You.”

“I just love how excited Blake is to go cut more songs and keep this party going,” Esposito said. “These other songs are smasharoos. It’s so much fun.”