Blake Shelton talks with our own Katie Neal!
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Thank you so much for the time today. How are you?
00:02Man, I am really good. I'm coming to you live here from Gwen's Zoom setup that she has.
00:12If you're wondering what all this weird stuff is behind me, that's her Give Makeup neon
00:18sign up there. And I think this is like a Harajuku painting. She used to have this cartoon
00:25years ago called the Harajuku Girls or something. And so she let me use her little Zoom set.
00:33The brands aren't working together, I don't think, but here we are.
00:37I was going to say, I'd expect a little more camo maybe in your Zoom room. That's very
00:43kind of her. How have you guys been?
00:45Man, we've been great. I'm having the time of my life right now, just in my personal
00:52life and my music life. It's kind of been off the radar for, I guess, a couple of years
01:02as far as releasing any new music or anything. And so it's exciting. I kind of feel like
01:07a new artist again, sticking my neck out there. I'm having a blast with it. I'm loving just
01:14talking to you guys and doing these interviews and telling old stories and stuff. I never
01:21until recently haven't really thought about how long I've been doing this.
01:25That's the first question that he wants to bring up.
01:28Yeah, well, it's funny. The questions that I get are like, wow, yeah, I hadn't thought
01:32about those things in years. And it's fun to think about this stuff again.
01:36For sure. You mentioned having fun. I got to catch you at Nissan with Post the other
01:41night.
01:42Oh, you were out there.
01:43That was really fun.
01:44Oh, my God. That kid is, I don't know how he does it. I've never been around a more
01:50infectious, happy person in my life as Post Malone. I hope everyone gets a chance to shake
02:00his hand one day because you'll have a better day because of it. I mean, he's just the happiest,
02:06most gracious guy I've ever met in my life. I mean, I don't mean one of, I mean the. And
02:14I credit him for really firing me up again about wanting to get in and make another record
02:21and get some music out there.
02:23That's awesome. I feel like every person I've talked to about Post has said the same thing
02:27that you did, like the most polite, the most kind, and also just like the most knowledge
02:31of country music, which I think is the thing that everybody was surprised about.
02:34Yeah, you know, I've had a few questions over the last few months about what do I think
02:40about Post and coming into country music and that whole thing. And with Post Malone,
02:50I think the difference is, I think Post isn't trying country music. I think he's just finally
02:58getting to do country music, which is obviously something that's been a part of him his entire
03:05life. And he's when you go and watch him, you know, do one of his shows, he ends up
03:12doing more covers than he does of his own music. He's doing freaking Brad Paisley and
03:18Dwight Yoakam, Hank Jr. And, you know, you're going, oh, my gosh, he knows more country
03:23music than most of us know. You know what I mean? And it's a part of of who he is as
03:29a human being. And I think that's why it's just so genuine and why it's connected in
03:34the way that it has. And man, I'll tell you something else, too, that I noticed is, you
03:40know, his album came out and already and it's a huge, obviously a huge album and he's had
03:46hits already and. And it would be real easy for him to kind of take his foot off the gas
03:51as far as Nashville goes and being a part of the community there, and I'll be damned
03:57if, you know, I was at the Country Music Hall of Fame induction for Toby Keith. I performed
04:03and I walked down in the hallway and there's Post Malone standing there performing for
04:08for Toby that night, you know, and it's like he's. He's still doing it, he's still, you
04:18know, paying tribute and showing appreciation for for country music and the artist in the
04:24industry itself. And I think I hope he's here to stay. I think he is, but I sure hope so.
04:30He's been a good shot in the arm for all of us, I think.
04:33Definitely. Well, you mentioned he was a good shot in the arm for you wanting to put out
04:37new music. Let's talk about the new song, Texas. Tell me in this one.
04:41Well, I don't know. You probably even haven't even heard the song yet.
04:45I did hear it.
04:46Did you hear it?
04:47Yeah.
04:48Okay, good, good.
04:49You can call it a bop. It's very catchy. I liked it. I listened to it four or five times
04:52in a row.
04:53Oh, my God, Katie. Well, you know, the song is just I felt the same way when I first heard
05:00it. Scott Hendricks sent it to me, and I thought, my gosh, you know, this song is really special.
05:07I was a little bit nervous about it for me. In fact, I told Scott, I said, I think that's
05:12a I don't know that I could see myself doing that song, you know, and but then the more
05:19I thought about it, the more I came back to that's maybe exactly why I should go in and
05:24record the song. There's nothing wrong with recording it and seeing how it turns out,
05:28you know, and so that's what we did. And thank God, you know, that that I got past,
05:35you know, my insecurities about that because we had so much fun recording it that I swear
05:41if they hadn't said, hey, we need to you guys that we really need to turn this in and get
05:47it printed and send it out to the streamers and radio and stuff, we would probably still
05:52be in there playing with that track because we were having so much fun with it. That's
05:57why I don't know if you noticed or not, but there's a there's a hawk screaming in the
06:01intro and there's the good, bad and the ugly whistle in the song. We were just doing all
06:06kinds of weird stuff with the answers and the I don't know, man, it's some of the most
06:13fun I've ever had in the studio making a record. And that's just because the song is fun. That's
06:18all it's really meant to be anyway, you know?
06:20Yeah, I know. I thought it was so fun. And I feel like, you know, you obviously have
06:24a good track record with songs about Texas and you like think about Austin. It's like
06:27kind of like a maybe like a cousin to Austin or related a little bit.
06:33I think what I'm about to do is do the songs back to back in concert. So we do Austin,
06:37Texas. It makes sense somehow right on the set list.
06:40Yeah. Well, new music coming. And then this is the first we've heard from you, I guess,
06:45like you said, since 2021. Where are you at in the process of a new album?
06:50You know, if they if they told me today, hey, we have to put out your album tomorrow.
06:57I have enough stuff cut right now that we could we could put together a record. But
07:03I still want to keep looking and playing around and recording some stuff right up until they
07:09tell me it's time to turn it in, you know. And so to answer your question, I have a record
07:16ready to go. I would like to keep looking and playing with it for the next few months
07:23and recording some more things because I feel like I'm just now figuring out, you know,
07:31especially with Texas, what I want the sound to be like, not that I want a whole record
07:36that sounds like Texas, but just kind of where I want to move, move to with this next step.
07:41And so I'm going to utilize as much time as they'll give me to look for more songs
07:47and and, you know, try to write or whatever I can do to keep taking more steps if I can.
07:55Definitely. You mentioned feeling like a new artist again, obviously, with the new music
07:59and then the change of record label. I imagine it's got to feel really good to have this
08:02like all this new energy and support around you that's giving you that feeling, too.
08:07It does. I think that's probably half of the of the new artist feeling, you know, is
08:14having signed with BMG or Broken Bow. I don't even know which which label they put me on.
08:21I'm on BMG and there's like five labels underneath the umbrella. But it is because, you know,
08:29these are people that that I've met over the years but never had a working relationship
08:35with, just had a kind of a high five. Good to see your relationship with over the years.
08:41And now we're on a team together and it and it really is like a rejuvenation and it really
08:49does bring a new energy and excitement because I want this. I want to win for them. I want
08:56this to work for them because they took a chance on me and hopefully vice versa. They
09:02hopefully feel the same way. And it's creating this excitement, you know.
09:07Definitely. You also announced recently that you are doing a Vegas residency in February.
09:12What are you most excited about for those shows? I feel like with Vegas, you get to do
09:15things a little bit different than normal.
09:17Yeah, I need to I guess I really need to put some thought into that. I haven't really.
09:22But to me, I was just like. These are just six more shows on my tour, you know, that's
09:28kind of how I've thought of it. But then Gwen is the one to say she goes, you know,
09:32that really is bull crap that they're calling that a residency because I did a residency.
09:38I did like 63 shows and you're doing like six shows. That's not a residency. That's just
09:43you're just staying there an extra weekend. You know, I'm like, well, I can't help what
09:48they call it. They're calling it a residency. But I don't know. Maybe I'll get me a sparkly
09:54shirt or something to wear. I can't imagine knowing me that I'm going to do anything that
10:00crazy. Maybe I'll dig out. I've been doing this a long time, like almost we're getting
10:06close to 25 years that I've been making records and putting them out. And so I think if there's
10:13anything that I should do, if people are going to travel to come see me, they're probably
10:20fans that that if they're willing to do that, they've probably been following along with
10:24me for a long time. And so I think maybe the best thing I can do is dig out some of those old
10:30songs that I just don't do anymore for whatever reason that I know were big records at the time,
10:40you know, back in the frickin 90s or whenever they came out and dig some of that stuff out
10:45and maybe do a portion of the show that's dedicated to old stuff. I don't know where
10:50you and I are brainstorming right now. It's still, you know, a couple of months away for
10:56me may as well be 10 years. I don't think about stuff till it's like last minute. And they tell
11:01me, hey, we got to build your lighting package. We need to know your set list like now. Immediately.
11:08I also want to ask you, you know, after 23 season seasons on The Voice, are you enjoying
11:12having some of that time back in your life? Oh, my God. Yes. Hey, that show was
11:20easily the greatest gift that I could have never even imagined in my life and career
11:28for all kinds of reasons. It changed my life and took my career to a place I didn't even think I
11:37had in the cards for me, you know. But man, I needed a break, you know. Two seasons a year
11:45for 12 years. And it really does dominate your life when you're on that show.
11:53Because, you know, artists, we're spoiled in that. We can kind of say no to things if we want to.
12:04But, you know, there you're working for the network. And when they say, we need you here,
12:10they need you here, you know. And so you try to fit their schedule in with your tour
12:16and your record making and your interviews and award shows. And the next thing you know,
12:23your year's gone, you know. And so I wanted to stick with it as much as I could and long as I
12:30could. But it was time. It was time for me to take a step back. And it was right on time, actually.
12:37For sure. Well, I'm sure it's nice to look at the calendar every once in a while. I'm like,
12:40wait, there's an open weekend? That's right. That's right. But now Gwen's back doing the
12:44show. And I'm going, oh, my God, what do you mean you got to be at The Voice? Let's go somewhere,
12:47you know. I love that. And I do think it's so fun to see country music still having such a
12:51big part of the show, like with Dan and Shane, Reba, and now Kelsey going. Did you, like,
12:55impart any wisdom to them on the show? Well, you know, I've known Reba for,
13:01you know, a hundred years. And we did, I did talk to Reba quite a bit about doing the show.
13:10And I encouraged her. I think she had already, she didn't tell me this. I think she had already
13:17signed on to do the show. And she just wasn't telling me. Because looking back how it timed
13:22out, I was like, I bet she was going, what are you, I'm already going to do it, you know. But
13:26I remember talking to her about it. And because I know that they wanted Reba before they wanted me
13:33to do the show when they first were coming up with the first season of The Voice. And
13:39she didn't feel good about being on a reality show and maybe being,
13:45she didn't want to be a judge of other artists, you know, which is understandable. But, you know,
13:49I'm glad she's doing it now. I think after she could see what it really was, which,
13:55you are judging people in a way that you're trying to help them, you know. And so I think
14:00she's great, great at it. I mean, obviously, I think she's, she won. I know she won once.
14:07She'll probably win again. I mean, she's Reba. Yeah, I know. Unstoppable, right?
14:11Well, we have you on the show. You're actually going to be on with me for a whole week. We'll
14:14be co-hosting some stuff together. But we're going to play a bunch of songs. And one of them
14:18I'm excited to play is Some Beach, which will turn, I think, turn 20 this summer.
14:23Oh, my God. Wow. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Sorry. Now I'm one of those people that's like,
14:28wow, how long you been doing this? I know. Well, if it turns 20 and think about this,
14:32that was my third album. So that shows you how long I've been around.
14:38What do you remember about that song? And like the first time you heard it,
14:41was that one an immediate yes for you? Yeah, it was. First of all, yeah.
14:46Paul Overstreet and Rory Feak wrote that song. And growing up, I would consider
14:55Paul Overstreet, you know, one of my top three influences, one of my heroes, you know, as an
15:01artist, not just his songwriting, but also as his records that he made as an artist. And so Bobby
15:11Braddock sent me the song and he goes, Paul Overstreet wrote a couple of songs he wanted
15:17you to hear. I was like, what, what, what? Paul Overstreet, you know, I played it and I was
15:21cracking up. I was like, and it was out of the left field really for Paul, because Paul is the
15:26kind of just, you know, always written these positive love songs, you know, he's just really
15:31been his signature forever. And so he wrote this song called Some Beach, you know, and it's just
15:39such a goopy song, but there's no way to listen to it without smiling and laughing. And so we
15:47went in and we cut two different versions of Some Beach. And the first one that we cut was kind of
15:54like, in our minds, we needed to cut it like a Jimmy Buffett sounding record, because the beach,
16:02you know, idea and, you know, it had steel drums, I think on it and, and like mariachi
16:09sounds or something. And, and we were like, man, we just totally overthought this, you know. And so
16:15we went back in, it's one of the few songs, there's been about three or four songs in my career that I
16:21played guitar on the record. And Some Beach is one of them. I mean, and I say this, and I'm being
16:26serious that we really wanted to just kind of dumb it down and just make it just straightforward.
16:33So I play, I was like, well, I'll see if I can even play guitar on this thing. So that's me
16:38playing guitar on that record, and acoustic guitar. And so we ended up just going straight
16:45ahead down the middle country and just let the song, let the lyrics stand on their own. And that's
16:50how it ended up working. That's awesome. Obviously, another one we'll play is Austin. And I always
16:56love to ask this question, because it was your first number one song as an artist. This is like
16:59really the first time that after like, you know, living paycheck to paycheck and really having a
17:04hard time literally like starving artists. Did you make a memorable or like a big first number one
17:09purchase? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I bought, I bought some land in over in Hickman, Hickman County,
17:19which is just west of Nashville, their little town called Centerville.
17:23A sight unseen, by the way, a hundred and about 115 acres, and it had a house on it that was
17:31800 square feet. I remember thinking, why would you even build a house that's 800 square feet?
17:38Like that's like a motel room sitting out in the pasture. I know, but it had a little brick house
17:45on it. And I did. I mean, obviously didn't. The only difference was I was able to finally borrow
17:53the money to buy the place. I was like, look, I haven't. This is me on Billboard magazine. I have
17:58the number one song in the country. Can I at least borrow the money to buy the mortgage, please?
18:03Yeah. And back then, you know, I think the farm costs like one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
18:08back when you could buy land for nothing, you know, out on the outskirts of Nashville. And so
18:14it was a stretch for me, but I did. I was like, this is my chance. I've always wanted to own land,
18:19and so I bought it. That's awesome. While we also have you on,
18:24it'll be a little bit closer to Christmas, so I want to ask a few holiday things. What are you
18:28guys looking forward to this year for the holidays? Do you have any specific traditions that you and
18:32Gwen do with the boys that you always look forward to? We do. Have you ever seen on like TikTok or
18:39Instagram those people that make those flaming hot Cheetos turkeys? Have you ever seen one of
18:45those? It's the dumbest thing. It's so dumb. Well, the kids wanted to do that about three or four
18:51years ago. And so we did watch the TikTok or whatever and learned how to do it. And we made one
19:00and it was pretty damn good, really. I mean, it surprised me, you know. And so the next year and
19:05we did it because our middle son wanted to do it. And then the next year, our youngest son,
19:12he wanted his turn to make a turkey, but he didn't want to do the flaming Cheetos one,
19:18so he wanted to do Funyuns. And so you crush these Funyuns up and make like a powder and you
19:25coat the turkey in this stuff. And we made it and it was pretty good. And then last year,
19:31we did one because we didn't even think of it till last minute. And all we had in there was
19:36like a couple of bags of like nacho cheese Doritos. And we tried it with the Doritos
19:43and I do not recommend that. I mean, it was just like, imagine just wet Doritos like stuck to the
19:50side of a turkey. It does not work the way the other stuff does. So that is our Thanksgiving
19:56tradition is these weird turkeys that end up having to feed half of it to the dog because
20:02it's like weird, you know? Oh my God. Well, I can't wait to see what you guys try this year
20:07because that is... We'll try something. There will be something weird. Oh my gosh, that's great. And
20:13then what kind of gift giver are you? Like, are you last minute shopper? Are you done early?
20:19I'd like to think I get done early. I think I'm a pretty early gift getter because I really do
20:29stress out about that. I got bit a few times about ordering something and not coming in for
20:35Christmas. And it's the worst feeling in the world when somebody gives you a gift and you go,
20:40yours hadn't come in yet. Because you know, in their mind, they're thinking,
20:45you didn't get me anything. I'm sure it didn't come in yet. You know, you're ordering it right
20:49now. And so I try to get everything bought early, mostly because I can't think of anything last
20:57minute. I really have to start thinking early about what somebody would actually want, you know?
21:02Do you feel like you have an easy time buying stuff for Gwen or is it harder?
21:06It's pretty easy for me, honestly. I mean, yeah, anything Gwen Stefani wants,
21:14she can probably already has it or she can get it, you know? But I'll tell you this about Gwen,
21:21she can never have enough of some things. And that includes flowers, flower bulbs, flower seeds.
21:30You just can't go wrong. Anybody out there watching, if you ever want to,
21:34out on tour, send Gwen a gift or something, iris bulbs, daffodils, all that stuff. I mean,
21:42I'm the one that is out there digging a hole for this stuff, but she can't have enough of it.
21:50You know, I remember last year, it looked like she was going to get everything in the store and
21:56she started opening her presents and it's like a five-pound sack of zinnia seeds and a box of
22:03bulbs, you know? You can't go wrong with that stuff for her.
22:07That's so sweet. I love that. And then what was the best gift that you remember Santa Claus
22:14bringing you as a kid? Bringing me?
22:16Yeah. Did he ever bring you one?
22:19Yeah, I do remember just being shocked because it was something I didn't ask for.
22:24And I didn't know how badly I wanted it until I saw it. I got my own stereo system
22:31one year when I was probably eight or nine years old. My brother had one, my sister had one,
22:37you know, just like the entertainment case with the two speakers next to it. You know,
22:41it seemed larger than life, but it was probably, you know, but it had a record player and a cassette
22:47had the two cassette players so I could record, you know, and I used the hell out of that thing.
22:53And when I saw it sitting there, though, it was just my mind was blown. It felt like such a grown
22:59up gift for me to have. And it was a big deal for me. Yeah.
23:05Oh, I love that. That's so precious. Listen, Blake, thank you so much for the time today. I
23:09mean, like this song was so great. I really listened to it on repeat several times.
23:12Oh my God. Thank you. That's four streams we got right there then. Good.
23:16You're welcome. Awesome. Well, listen,
23:19have a great rest of your day. So good to see you.
23:21You too. Thank you.
23:23Take care. Bye.