Friday, July 8, 2011

Blake Shelton Joining Nashville's 'Mainstream Elite'

According to the New York Times, "Apart from perhaps Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton’s becoming the most important and visible ambassador from Nashville to the American mainstream." they reported in a feature on the emerging superstar Thursday. His upcoming album 'Red River Blue', marriage to Miranda Lambert and breakout performance on The Voice are all expanding his fan base in what is quite a prestigious media placement, even for a 'wise-cracking' country singer from Oklahoma.

Central to the theme of the feature are Shelton's thoughts on balancing his growing career with his personal life. "I've got to spend some time with my wife," he tells his manager during the heavy workload of The Voice. Shelton broke down and 'cried' after hearing the reply: "It's probably only going to get worse from here." Ultimately, he says he is unwilling to sacrifice his relationship with Lambert in pursuit of stardom. “The one thing we can’t allow to happen is we get so busy that we lose each other." Read the full article here. What a great attitude to have!

It seems like Mr. Shelton is building quite the career and reputation for himself. 2010 proved to be a successful year for the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year. With his time on the NBC hit show 'The Voice', a new married life and a highly anticipated new album out soon, it seems that 2011 might even top his success from last year!

(some parts via Lon Helton's Country Aircheck Artist News, NY Times 7-7-11)