CMT Blog: Blake Shelton

All this talk about Blake Shelton’s No. 1 hit “Home” has conjured up my not-so-vivid memory of the first time we met.

It was a couple years ago, and I had gone down to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards. The morning after the show, I reluctantly packed my bags and took my Xanax for the flight home. I went down to the lobby of the very barebones Holiday Inn to wait for my airport shuttle, and my anti-anxiety drugs were starting to kick in. So when I saw the elevator doors open, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a guy who looked just like Blake Shelton get off.

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What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I was longing for the good ol’ days of brick-and-mortar music stores. Then I got my iPhone. And now I’m reveling in a constant stream of sweet country radio.

The phone in this slim little thing is nice. It’s cool to be able to surf the real full-HTML Internet. And the touch screen is easy to navigate. But when I was scrolling through the applications in the App Store, I found one for radio. It was free, so I figured what the hell. I clicked “install” and, just like that, I can now listen to my local radio station. Or 36 other country radio stations.

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I was at a county fair in Michigan last night watching the Blake Shelton/Miranda Lambert concert, and I figured that the guys were probably there for Blake and the girls were there for Miranda. Well … not quite. The men in Monroe, Mich., really have a thing for Miranda Lambert. I shouldn’t generalize, but as I was taking photos, I was moving all over the audience and kept hearing the same thing from the too-cool-for-school dudes lingering all along the periphery — mainly, “I loooove you, Mirandaaaaaaaaa!!!”

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Blake Shelton has one of my favorite personalities in Country music — but it’s a split personality. He’s a funny guy and many of his songs reflect that, and from what I’ve seen of him and Lance Smith on CMT’s Top Twenty Countdown, we should really find a way to do a Blake Shelton show. But on the other hand, he’s got this dead serious, lonesome singer side. That’s a big part of why I like him, you never know what to expect. His newest single, “She Wouldn’t Be Gone,” comes from the lonesome singer category. There’s nothing funny about this one, just some real sad, descriptive lyrics and a catchy melody. It’s got a really thick sound to it too, like it came from a big “time to turn things around” moment in a movie. I don’t usually make predictions, but I’ll bet this one is a hit.

Listen to Blake Shelton’s “She Wouldn’t Be Gone.”

In less than 24 hours, Sugarland will make a big announcement. All I wanna do-oooo-ooo-ooo-ooo is check their Web site at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow.

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are the proud parents of Hank, yet another stray dog. Their new baby is getting along just fine with dogs Jessi and Waylon.

One week he’s his own security guard. The next week he’s strolling casually through L.A. with his family. How many sides are there to Tim McGraw?

August 4 is going to be a boot scootin’ day for the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That’s when Brooks & Dunn will get their much-deserved star.

In a radio interview, John Rich dishes on Nashville Star contestants, host Billy Ray Cyrus and giving the fans music worth buying in tough times.

You know that scene in Blake Shelton’s new video, “Home,” where he’s sitting in the hotel room and the Eiffel Tower is out there? Um, that’s not real. The director insisted it wouldn’t look cheesy, and Shelton finally took his word on it. The country star shot the video in an enormous green room, singing to the walls and hoping for the best. … and it turned out just fine, merci beaucoup.

“I’m glad we gave the guy a shot,” Shelton says now. “Someone just told me, ‘I didn’t know till the other day that you weren’t in those places.’”

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I got a puppy about a month ago. So naturally, I became instantly obsessed with dogs as if I was the first person to actually own one. I have all the books, I watch Animal Planet non-stop and spend about $150 a week at PetSmart on toys this little guy has no interest in. I’ve done everything short of getting a my-dog-is-smarter-than-your-dog bumper sticker. But what I keep wondering is, why there are no good country songs about dogs?

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Since I tend to get a bit lonely on Sundays, I try and occupy my time accordingly. I can usually be found amidst the isles of books at Borders perusing through titles I find most intriguing but probably will never buy. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love to read, but I won’t be purchasing North American Trees or Treasures of Tutankhamun anytime soon.

After purchasing some overpriced hologram butterfly wrapping paper, I set off for home. By this time it was pouring down rain and the overcast skies really weren’t helping my already dreary state of mind. Read more…

Miranda Lambert has a 700-acre farm full of animals, including chickens, goats and a miniature horse. She recently rescued two puppies from the side of a local road to add to the menagerie. Yep, you might call her an animal lover.

But when she adopted her dog Delilah from the Humane Society of East Texas a couple of years ago, Lambert got serious about helping animals. Now she’s organized her first benefit for the humane society, a silent auction and concert called Cause for the Paws, scheduled for April 20 in North Tyler, Texas. Joining her in concert are Blake Shelton, Kacey Musgraves and Adam Hood.

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Every week, I like to see who’s at the top of the country sales chart, even though it’s usually the same folks - Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, etc. But this week I decided to start from the bottom up. You might be as surprised as I am at these low sales by familiar names.

Let’s start with the hits compilations released late last year. Faith Hill’s The Hits isn’t even halfway to a half-million copies, so no gold album there. Back in 1999, Breathe sold more than seven million copies. Meanwhile, Trisha Yearwood’s Greatest Hits hasn’t cracked 90,000 copies yet. Songbook: A Collection of Hits, from 1997, sold more than four million copies. Both of these singers have released some amazing songs over the years, and they put on a good face for country music (even when that face is screaming out, “WHAT?!?!?) but I think they simply waited too long. Their careers have kind of cooled off in the last few years. Plus, in the digital age, if you already have the older albums on your computer or iPod, you can just add the new tracks for a few bucks.

I would imagine that Blake Shelton and Joe Nichols will release Greatest Hits albums in the next year or so, because their current albums simply aren’t moving. Shelton’s Pure B.S. is just under 265,000, after nearly a year on the chart. You can add about 11,000 copies to that total when you consider the additional sales of his Collector’s Edition, which certainly includes repeat buyers. Nichols is being outsold by Jason Michael Carroll and Bucky Covington, although they’re toward the bottom of the chart too.

And who’s at the top? Alan Jackson, with Good Time, showing that there is still a place for longevity on the country sales chart - but not as much as you might think.