Blake: Ole Red Nashville
Blake participated in an event at Ole Red Nashville for The Voice, performing a few songs as well as doing an interview with WSM’s Bill Cody.
Blake Shelton Takes ‘The Voice’ To Nashville For An Upcoming Episode
Blake Shelton’s Ole Red restaurant and entertainment complex in downtown Nashville was buzzing with energy, added security, and a lot of people wearing NBC The Voice badges. TV cameras were also moving around in preparation for a Blake Shelton performance set for the stage a short time later. Members of Team Blake from this season’s show which includes contestants Cali Wilson, Kat Hammock, and Ricky Duran, were there and would be watching him. It would all be recorded for a segment for next week’s show.
With country music’s biggest names in town for the annual CMA Awards, Shelton said it seemed like the perfect time to take his team on a field trip to Nashville.
“I’ve been wanting to do something like this with my team since we have Ole Red here,” Blake explained. Owned and operated by Ryman Hospitality Properties, Ole Red is one of three properties inspired by Blake Shelton’s hit song ‘Ol Red.” There’s one in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, another one in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and plans are underway to open a fourth venue in Orlando, Florida next spring.
“This worked out perfectly with the CMAs and with it being such a big night last night,” Shelton said.
That ‘big night’ saw Shelton take home “Single of the Year” for his chart-topping “God’s Country.”
As excited as he was for his own win, he was also celebrating the award given to his fiddle player, Jenee Fleenor. She became the first woman ever to win a CMA for “Musician of the Year.” Shelton joked that she’d better not quit his band now that she’d become famous.
His own CMA award came as a surprise. Shelton said he actually entered 2019 wondering what to do next in terms of his music after singles from his last album didn’t climb the charts as he’d hoped. He’d decided to take a wait-and-see approach before recording anything new. But when he first heard “God’s Country,” he knew it was something special.
“That song rocks,” he said. “I heard the song and it was almost like an awakening. It reenergized me.”
It also got him back on the award show circuit.
“I’ll be damned if it didn’t turn everything around for me as far as being nominated for something again. I haven’t been nominated for a CMA in four or five years. I didn’t even mark that show off on my calendar anymore.” He said he’d tell himself things like, “I’m doing “The Voice,” and “I don’t want to take anybody’s seat.”
But when he knew he was coming for this year’s ceremony, he decided to bring members of Team Blake and give them an inside look at the country music industry.
“You can tell all three of them are really absorbing all of this. They’re getting to see it up close and personal and I can tell it’s fueling their fire.”
Before his performance at Ole Red, Shelton sat down with WSM Radio host Bill Cody and members of the media to talk about Season 17.
Right off the top he was asked about Adam Levine’s departure and their “bromance” being over. The two were noted for their constant pranks, antics, and teasing back and forth. Referring to his friend, Shelton said “It’s not over, just not on camera.”
He did admit that heading into the new season he had some concerns about Adam leaving, but noted things have worked out well. Gwen Stefani stepped in to fill Adam’s slot, and she, Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend have found a great balance.
“I didn’t know how people were going to react,” Shelton said. “And no, it’s not the same show, it’s a different dynamic, but it’s such a fun group and a good feeling when you watch the show. Then, with a laugh he added, “And trust me, Kelly and I butt heads just as much as Adam and I did.”
This season has had the added bonus of having fellow country stars Darius Rucker and Taylor Swift brought in as mentors.
“I literally love that guy,” he said, referring to Rucker. “He’s such a great person. He’s been a pop or rock superstar or whatever you call it, he was in a group, then went solo into a completely different genre and had success. And he’s written all of these hits.”
Regarding Swift, he said, “We all know how talented Taylor is, but I think 50 percent of her success is combining her talent with how smart she is. People are always blown away when she comes on the show, ‘oh that’s Taylor Swift.’. But you’re even more impressed when you get that out of the way and just soak up who she is.”
Shelton says the highlight of working on The Voice is always those live shows.
“It’s exciting. Every night when somebody performs in a live show, the first thing all of us coaches do is look at iTunes. ‘Oh, man, they didn’t even chart, I thought that was great’ or, ‘they’re number one.’ It’s exciting to see it in motion because that’s when you know if you’re connecting.”
While all of the judges are currently “having a blast,” Stefani will be leaving at the end of the season. Shelton says he hates to see her go, but understands the way the show works and says, she’ll be back.
“I’ve made it known I don’t ever want her to leave, but I also know, at the same time, the show needs to keep reinventing itself and the only way to do that is to change coaches out every season a little bit. As long as it’s not me!”
Shelton, who is dating Stefani, says she has other commitments like her Las Vegas residency. She’ll be replaced next season by Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers.
“When I heard Nick was coming I was excited because I know he’s a pro and he works hard,” Shelton said. “I was actually shocked they were able to get him because those guys are so busy right now.”
Interestingly enough, while Shelton has been on the show representing country music since the beginning, he says he wasn’t NBC’s first choice.
“I’ve heard different versions of this,” he said, “but if I’m not mistaken, they wanted Reba to be a coach on “The Voice” first. They called Starstruck (Starstruck Entertainment) and Reba couldn’t do it or they just decided it wasn’t the thing for her. So Narvel (Narvel Blackstock is McEntire’s ex-husband and former manager, and also manages Shelton) told them Reba can’t do it, but said, “I’ve got this other guy I manage that’s GOT ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.”
Shelton laughed as he said NBC rolled the dice and said they’d try it. It was a gamble that paid off.
As he prepared to take the stage for his taping for The Voice, Shelton said one of his main goals when he partnered with Ryman Hospitality to open “Ole Red” was to have a place where those he’s coached and mentored on The Voice can come and perform long after they’ve left the show.
“Every time I’ve have been here, somebody from The Voice has been on that stage. A lot of times it’s Adam Wakefield, he plays here a lot. But there have been several different artists over the last year-and-a-half I’ve been in and out of here. And I love that.”
Ole Red is situated along Nashville’s busy Lower Broadway strip also known as Honky Tonk Row. It’s where Shelton played years ago before making it big. He remembers playing at places like the Wildhorse Saloon and Tootsies.
“I actually got kicked out of Tootsies,” he recalled. “Every now and then I had a song I would play that was very inappropriate. And I played it at Tootsie’s one time and the manager came up and said, ‘You’re not welcome to play here anymore’, so I didn’t.” He laughed, then added, “So, I just put in my own damn bar.”
He’s proud to offer Ole Red as a venue for former contestants of The Voice who did well on the show.
“It’s important for me to be able to say, I’ve got this place, I’d love for you to come and play anytime you want. There’s always going to be an open door here. As long as you don’t play that song I played at Tootsies.”
Why Blake Shelton Doesn't Miss Adam Levine Any More (Guess Who's Filled the Void!) and Other Secrets of The Voice
The Voice coach Blake Shelton says he’s gotten over pining for longtime arch-nemesis Adam Levine, who left the hit show earlier this year. And Shelton has good reason: Fellow coach Kelly Clarkson, he says, is “doing a great job filling the Adam ‘assh— void.’”
In fact, Shelton revealed at a recent Nashville event to promote The Voice that he recently uttered those exact words to Clarkson. He also reported Clarkson’s reaction: “She didn’t take that very well.”
There’s another reason Shelton doesn’t miss Levine: The bromance continues, he revealed, “just not for the cameras.”
Shelton opened up even more about the show’s past, present and future in a wide-ranging Q&A session, held Thursday at his Ole Red restaurant and honky-tonk:
The role he hates the most: “Eliminating people from the show. … I literally despise it. I don’t want it to be in my hands. And so when we finally get to the [live shows], it still hurts as bad to see somebody go home, but at least you don’t feel directly responsible for it.”
What he does first after the live shows: Along with the rest of the coaches, he immediately checks in with iTunes to see “who’s just blown up.” Sometimes, he said, he’s disappointed to see a performance that resonated with him didn’t have a similar impact on viewers, but if one of his contestants is at the top of the heap, “that’s exciting to see it in motion,” he said.
Why he picked Darius Rucker to be Team Blake’s mentor: “I literally love that guy,” Shelton said about his team’s Season 17 mentor. But he picked Rucker for more practical reasons, since he’s had success across genres (both pop-rock and country) and as a Hootie & the Blowfish band member and a solo artist. “He’s written all these hits, and so he just had so much he can bring to the table as far as experience goes,” Shelton said. “He’s pretty much seen it and done it all.”
What he loves most about “mega-mentor” Taylor Swift: Her brain power. “She’s just so smart,” Shelton said. “That’s the thing: We all know how talented Taylor is, but I think 50 percent of her success is also combining her talent with just literally how smart she is. Every time I’m around her, I love just kind of soaking it in and listening to her talk. She always has something to say or a way of looking at something that I never have thought that way. … Once you get past the” — Shelton gasped — “‘It’s Taylor Swift!’ you’re even more impressed with her.”
There’s a new Voice nemesis-in-waiting: Blind auditions for the upcoming Season 18 have already taken place, and Shelton confirmed that new coach Nick Jonas is a formidable adversary. The two got acquainted when both contributed their voices to this year’s UglyDolls animated movie, and Shelton found him to be a “super-nice guy.” At the moment, though, Shelton has put those warm fuzzies aside. “I’m starting to hate the guy because I’m competing with him now,” he said. “He is a tough, tough guy to go against. When you turn your chair around and there’s a young person up there, and they’re trying to choose between me and then Nick Jonas sitting down there, I’m screwed almost every time. So yeah, he can kiss my ass till the season’s over.”
His all-time favorite contestant: Season 4 winner Danielle Bradbery, even though Shelton said he singled her out “knowing that I’m going to hear some crap about it” from all the other contestants he’s coached. But Shelton backed up his opinion by pointing out the improbability of Bradbery’s success: She won the show at just age 16 having never sung in public before and after auditioning on a whim. “It just kind of fell in her life, and she found it out — and in front of the nation — that she was this incredible vocalist.” Shelton shared that he invited Bradbery and her parents to his home before the finale in 2013, and he asked her, “Is this even what you want to do with your life?” At the time she said she didn’t know. Now 23, Bradbery is indeed pursuing a music career, “and thank God she did,” said her former coach.
The one who got away: Morgan Wallen is the one contestant that Shelton looks back on and wonders, “what the hell?” The platinum-selling country artist was on Usher‘s team and then Levine’s team in Season 6 in 2014 before he washed out during the playoff rounds. (Granted, Usher presciently said when he cut Wallen: “He just hasn’t unlocked his full potential.”) “The whole thing just seems screwed up,” Shelton said. “Here he is having these gigantic, huge No. 1 hits in country music, and I can’t take any of the credit. It pisses me off, you know. Man, I had him right there and he got away.”
Gwen Stefani will be back as a coach: Well, at least if her boyfriend has anything to say about it. “I don’t know if I have any power,” Shelton said, “but I definitely have a loud voice when it comes to that. And I make it known that I don’t ever want her to leave.” Granted, Shelton acknowledged, Stefani has other professional commitments. He also understands the need for The Voice to stay fresh. “And the only the way to really do that is to change the coaches out every season a little bit,” Shelton said, adding, “as long as it’s not me.” He noted the show’s producers have created a sense of a family among the ever-changing cast, which keeps open the possibility that any former coach could make a reappearance. “So we’ll get Nick [Jonas] in there, and I’ll kick his ass,” Shelton said, “and then hopefully at some point we’ll bring Gwen back — or whoever it is — but I definitely don’t think we’ve seen the last of her on the show.”