Expanded Q&A: Blake Shelton
Oklahoma country music star Blake Shelton released his fifth studio album, “Startin’ Fires,” on Tuesday.
I spoke with the Ada native about the album during CMA Week, when he was in Nashville, Tenn., attending the awards with his sweetheart, fellow country star and Tishomingo resident Miranda Lambert. He also was keeping busy doing interviews and publicity for the album. He claimed it was “the longest week of my life.”
“Barack Obama did not have more to do than I do these past two days on the day before he got elected president,” he declared.
During the interview, we talked about “Bare Skin Rug,” the song he wrote with Lambert, the importance of his hit “Home” to his career, and the reasons he loves to play in Oklahoma. This Q&A is an edited version of the interview:
Q: I can understand that you would be quite busy with activities. You do have a new album coming out and that is pretty exciting because …
A: I’m freakin’ pumped about it.
Q: Well, that’s good. I understand that it was supposed to be released early next year but the folks at Warner Bros. were so excited about it that they moved it up?
A: Um hum. Well, I tell you what, it took us by surprise, Brandy, because you know, you try to time, you try to think ahead, which you can’t really do in the music industry anyway, of when would be the best time to release an album according to how much airplay the first single is getting.
And with this one, when we released it, we thought, well, you know, February, March would be about the right time, and then as we watched the single grow, it grew a lot faster than we thought it would, and I think that’s due to two things: You know, the success of “Home,” just being as big of a record as it was; you know, I was really coming with a lot more momentum than any of us thought. And then also this particular song, “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” is just really connecting with people in a bigger way than I anticipated. I thought it’d be one of those songs that took a little bit longer to grow on people, and it has a bigger, quicker reaction than that, which by God, I’m so thankful for that, because those songs are few and far between. …
Q: What do you think has made it connect so strongly with the fans? And what did you do different with the vocals? Because you sound terrific, not that you don’t always sound good, but you sound particularly strong.
A: Thank you. Well, thank you. You know, as far as the song being different, that was something that we did by design, just because 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, not only for me but from anything else on the radio, which is a good thing, if you can get people to be interested enough to pay attention to something like that, you know.
As far as the vocal on it, appreciate you saying that. You know, I think it’s I’m singing it a little bit different – and hopefully better – for a couple of reasons. You know, it’s a song that the guy has basically lost the girl, and as you listen to the lyrics you know that, but throughout the song there’s just a little bit of hope that if he could just find her, he could fix everything and make it right. You know, but the odds are he’s probably not gonna find her, and it probably won’t happen, but he is not gonna give up. And so 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, because the way it’s written. And I’ve never heard a song written quite that way.
Q: I read in a news release that you like to sing songs about regret. Is there any particular reason? It’s kind of a weird thing to like to sing about.
A: Um hum. Well, you know, for me, regret is that one thing, that even though you end up getting over something, you can always look back at it and remember how you felt, you know, when you’ve done something wrong and wish could’ve changed it. Even when you get over it, you still know what that was like, and so when I say I like to say about it, because that’s an emotion that I can when I’m singing about it or thinking about it, I can feel what it was like all over again. So it’s a natural thing, as a country singer, when I’m singing about real life, it’s a natural thing for me to jump into and feel like I’m giving it everything I got because, you know, I can make myself feel that way.
Q: There’s other songs on the album we should probably talk about, too. You have a couple of songs on this album that you co-wrote. Is that something that you’ve always been interested in or always done? I’m not sure how much songwriting experience that you have. And what was the experience like?
A: The two that I wrote? Well, one of them I wrote with Dean Dillon, and I tell you, just to be perfectly honest, I’ve always wanted to write a song with Dean Dillon just because he writes the coolest melodies that I’ve ever heard. They’re timeless. And you know, if you ever or, you know, if one of your readers ever want to look and see who was probably the most important person in George Strait’s career beside George Strait, it’s Dean Dillon. He wrote so many of his hits and the melodies, from “The Chair” to “Unwound.” These are just timeless melodies, and I’m a melody guy first and foremost. That’s always the first thing to catch my ear. So, I wanted to write with Dean and I had known him for a while.
And so when we finally got the chance to sit down, I had this little guitar riff that I’d been working on, and I played it for him and he immediately began to sing one of those melodies – one of those melodies that are just timeless to me. And I couldn’t believe that there was one that was gonna have my name on it with him. So once we wrote the song, I knew I would record it one day, I just didn’t know when. …
Q: And then the other one wrote with Miranda Lambert.
A: Yeah, “Bare Skin Rug” I wrote with Miranda. And we just wrote that at my house down there in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, sitting around my fire pit behind the house one night. And we wanted to write a funny song b/c 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, you know?
Q: You two are a mess, you know that right?
A: (Laughs)
Q: I’m listening to this song and it sounds like such a sweet and nice love song, and then you start in the lyrics about how you’re not even kin and all this stuff. And I just thought, “Good grief, you two are a mess.”
A: (Still laughing) Yes, we are.
Q: And how are the neighbors treating you and how long have you two been neighbors? When I talked to her in September it seemed like you two were getting along pretty well.
A: Yeah, we are, we’re getting along real good. You know, I think probably the majority of the time is spent at my house, and when she goes to her house, it’s usually just to hang out with her 10 million animals that she has over there, from chickens all the way up to goats and horses and donkeys and all that crap.
Q: I understand you sometimes get the privilege of helping to take care of those animals?
A: Oh, yeah, I mean, whenever she’s not around, it’s inevitable that I’ll get the call: (imitating Miranda) “Will you go by the house and say hi to Hank and will you feed the goats and be sure you pet Annie …” And I say, “Oh my God.” So, you know, I learned early on to quit buying her animals as gifts because I’m the one that ends up having to feed ‘em.
Q: Well, yeah, what did you expect?
A: (Laughs)
Q: So you guys have been living out there as neighbors for about a year? Is that when you moved back to Oklahoma, too?
A: I’ve been out there for, let’s see, this’ll be the third fall for me. She’s been there now for probably about right at a year.
Q: How do you like living in Oklahoma and how do you like playing shows in Oklahoma?
A: 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. 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. And I know the things that I can say and the things that I don’t have to worry about, you know, what can I get away on the stage with tonight. I know exactly who the people are out there in the audience when I play in Oklahoma. I know what they expect to hear from me, because we all have the same sense of humor. We all have that Oklahoma thing, whatever it is, where we just get each other. So it’s always fun for me to get on stage and sing for those people.
Q: And are you and Miranda still touring together?
A: No, we’ve pretty much wrapped that up. We have one more show left to do in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on New Year’s Eve, and then we’ll be done.
Q: Are you going to do more of that, or have you had enough of each other?
A: Yeah, we probably have had enough of each other for now. We’ll revisit it again in about a year and a half or two years. The main thing we were just doing that to see where we stood among artists who just go into a town and rent an arena and just sell tickets and see how they do. You know, we wanted to see if we could do that, and we found out we can. And whether it’s the combination of the two of us or one or the other, we did it, and we needed to know that information to kind of build our touring schedules for the next couple of years according to what we wanted to do. And so I couldn’t think of anybody better to do that with than with Miranda, you know, to have out there on the road with me and vice versa.
Q: You’ve mentioned “Home” a couple of times in the course of this interview. And that was a No. 1 for you – it was your fourth No. 1 – but it was even a little bigger than that for you?
A: It was. “Home” for me, it was not just a No. 1 song, 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.’ (laughs) And I know I do other things sometimes like “Clash of the Choirs” and different little deals that I get into. 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.
Q: And it lead to a lot of great things for you: You got to do a duet with Michael Buble and all kinds of fun stuff. And you said you feel like it opened opportunities for you?
A: Yeah, it totally did, just being a pop cover, I think that, you know, took a lot of people by surprise, and they couldn’t believe that I did it or even had the nerve to do it. But it always felt like just a country song to me; even Buble’s version sounded kind of country to me. So I didn’t think it would be that hard of a thing to pull off, I just loved the song that I wanted to at least record it. And once we did that, people, it kind of just caught on and ended up being a hit single.
Q: And that was actually the main motivation for doing the “Pure BS: Deluxe Edition” earlier this year?
A: Yeah, because I had cut it just thinking it would be, you know, a track on an album someday, and when the record company heard it, they immediately wanted to put it out and re-release the “Pure BS” album on it with that as an extra track. And that’s why that album was re-released with that as a new track on it, just so they could get it to people quicker instead of having to wait on me to finish an album.
Q: And that was actually the first real project that you and Miranda did together, is that correct?
A: Yes, that’s correct, the first time our voices are on tape together was “Home,” so it’s worked so far. … (laughing)
Q: This has been a really busy year for you; it’s your second release. As you go into the next year, what are you really looking forward to, what do you want to do differently? Do you have any resolutions?
A: Next year, just to me, next year, I think it’s gonna be my biggest year, I really do. I mean, I think I’m set up now to, you know, accomplish a lot of things that I’ve been wanting to do with my country music career and just couldn’t get a good enough foothold along the way to do those things. And I think now with the release of this album, and once people are able to hear that this is kind of music that I’m doing now, that it’s just gonna allow me to go on and accomplish a lot more of my goals. And I’m looking forward to it. I’m gonna tour more next year than I ever have before, just because I don’t want to miss out on anything. I feel that strongly about this record.
Q: You do feel that strongly about this record – that it’s the one? You’ve just been on an upward trend, and it’s been fun to watch you this year. The song “Home” has just built and built and built, and it seemed like something new was coming out of it every day. I’m sure it must have felt like such a blessing.
A: Thank you. Oh, my God, it was unbelievable. …
Q: Anything else you want to add about Oklahoma or you and Miranda or anything else?
A: Just that I’ll see everybody back home this holiday season, and if you need me for anything before that, I’ll be sitting in a tree stand somewhere in southern Oklahoma.
Q: Ah, deer season, yes?
A: That’s what it is.
Q: Are you a bow or gun hunter?
A: Both.
-BAM
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
[...] Expanded Q&A: Blake Shelton blog.newsok.com [...]