CRS Wrap Up: Blake Shelton, And The Legend Of 'Ole Red'

Shelton at CRS 2022 (Photo: Courtesy of CRB/CRS | Kayla Schoen)

Those who attended COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR (CRS) 18 years ago may remember the parody video that WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE/WMN's BLAKE SHELTON starred in, imitating a certain memorable event that took place in the window reflecting above the BRIDGE BAR at THE RENNAISSANCE HOTEL. Luckily for the audience, the video was resurfaced and played to kick off the final panel of COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR (CRS 2022), the Artist Spotlight Interview with SHELTON. The session was hosted by COUNTRY AIRCHECK founder and “Country Countdown USA” radio show host LON HELTON. SHELTON, a coach on ABC's show "The Voice," had the audience laughing right from the start of his Q&A session, "I can't believe we did that," he said of the video. "I couldn't believe we did it then ... A fake masturbating video to introduce myself to Country radio."

HELTON began by asking what the difference was, "aside from 20 years, extra zeroes in his bank account and being married to Pop superstar GWEN STEFANI," between the SHELTON in the parody video and the SHELTON now. SHELTON responded, "I see that guy and all of the mistakes he's about to make. I wouldn't change a thing, but I didn't realize how many mistakes I was about to start making."

He gave a shoutout to COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME member and songwriter/producer BOBBY BRADDOCK, explaining that he was SHELTON's one-man support team for a while, and always steered the ship in the right direction. "He was so good with songs. He would always find a way to buy me another year or so," SHELTON said in regards to BRADDOCK finding the gems among the not-so-great songs at the beginning of SHELTON's career.

SHELTON then started at the very beginning, when he moved to NASHVILLE at age 17, and told the audience about how he got to where he is today, and the hilarious memories in between. The common theme of the discussion being SHELTON, saying, “Maybe I shouldn’t tell this story, but that’s never stopped me before."

Upon moving to NASHVILLE, 17-year-old SHELTON was hired to paint MAE BOREN AXTON's home in HENDERSONVILLE, TN, where he met her son, HOYT AXTON, who changed his life forever by playing him the song "Ole Red." After hearing his song, it became SHELTON's signature to perform during his small acoustic sets in NASHVILLE, and people would ask him to "play that dog song you did last week." He explained it was pretty easy to get a gig at smaller bars, but he was "never good enough to get THE BLUEBIRD CAFE."

SHELTON proposed the idea of recording "Ole Red" to BRADDOCK, after BRADDOCK decided he wanted to produce some sides on SHELTON, and admitted that he thought he was "laying down something brand new that he had never heard in his life." That's when BRADDOCK let him know that the song had been cut by GEORGE JONES and KENNY ROGERS before him. "He [BRADDOCK] let me remake it, and now there's a bar over there called OLE RED," said SHELTON while pointing to NASHVILLE's famous Lower BROADWAY. Speaking of OLE RED, he shared that he really enjoys being a part of the bar chain's journey, and how it doesn't feel like work for him.

He then went on to tell the audience about his time at GIANT RECORDS, where he signed after seven years of chasing a record deal, and how it closed soon after SHELTON joined the roster. Before closing, the label released what became his first hit, "Austin," which ended up charting at, he said, "like 65 when BILLBOARD charts only went up to 70." Since "Austin" had started to get a small amount of traction, sister company WARNER picked him up. He then began to record his first album with BRADDOCK, who at the time had never produced, and SHELTON had never made a record. HELTON surprised SHELTON and scored some laughter from the audience by playing SHELTON's cut of TOBY KEITH's hit, "I Wanna Talk About Me," which not many people knew existed.

SHELTON then shared the story behind the evolution of his initial mullet and cowboy hat look. "The mullet went away because I was about four or 10 years behind on the mullet trend anyways," he said. He told the audience that his manager at the time encouraged him to ditch the hat because it put him in a restricted category, and without it there would be more opportunities and the ability to say things that some artists couldn't say. He recalled that they did an entire album shoot with a cowboy hat and one without, and the cowboy hat-less shoot ended up winning. "I miss it now because my hair looks stupid," SHELTON joked.

HELTON asked about SHELTON's song-selection process, calling his sound "CONWAY TWITTY-esque." SHELTON said his process is in tandem with longtime producer and WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE exec SCOTT HENDRICKS, who has the same vision for making records as he does, and they are always looking for something new- and next-sounding. He admitted that he tries to chase the sound from his hit, "God's Country," and he should "know by now to stop doing that. Occasionally my ego gets in the way." He said that his ultimate goal is for a greatest hits album with tracks that are all over the map sonically, and contradict each other. His goal is to make records that don't sound like the last one, so no one can tell what's coming next, and added that he loses interest if he doesn't change things up.

"I've never considered myself an artist, just a Country singer," SHELTON said. "There are too many heroes of mine to decide what I want to sound like, so I want to sound like all of them."

He concluded his panel talking about his wife, STEFANI, and how his faith in GOD has been strengthened by association with her. He continued by explaining that now, helping raise STEFANI's three boys, he's gotten to take on "the most important role a man could ever have" as a dad. He emphasized the importance of using the word "no" in business so that he can have more time with his family.

"What is the future for your music and having hits on the radio? How will it fit in your life?" asked HELTON. "I have to be careful, because the record label, and radio and everyone is here," SHELTON replied, before explaining that he's always been prepared for the end, when his songs aren't getting played anymore, and accepted a few years ago that the clock is ticking. He went into further detail, saying that people are going to get tired of the same artists winning the awards and having #1 after #1, and that it's time for the LUKE COMBS' and MORGAN WALLENs of Country music to have their time to shine.

SHELTON added that there's not one complaint he has, and he is so thankful, but he doesn't care as much about winning the awards and selling out the stadiums. "My biggest award," said SHELTON, "is getting to look back at the last 20 years and saying, 'Man, how the f*** did that just happen?'"

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