Blake Shelton had no faith that one of his biggest hits would hit No. 1. Honestly, he thought it pretty unlikely that anyone would want to play it at all.
Talking to Taste of Country Nights, Shelton named two songs that surprised him. The second one was “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” an R&B inspired slow jam from 2010 that required an often unserious singer to get real serious.
The other one is probably the song people think of first when asked for a great Blake Shelton song. In some ways it’s a prequel to his new single, “Texas.”
- “Texas” was released to digital streaming platforms on Nov. 15.
- It’s Shelton’s first new release in two years.
- An album is set to follow, but there is no timeframe for that release.
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“I’ve never been so happy in my life to be that wrong about something.”
“‘Austin’ was a shocker for me,” Shelton says, referring to his very first single, a multi-week No. 1.
“I was so afraid of that song … I was just convinced that, you know, to be a new artist, you needed to come out with maybe an up-tempo or something fun, you know? And ‘Austin’ is this super slow ballad story song about an answering machine.”
Shelton didn’t think any radio programmers would play the song — remember, this was 2001, when radio was the only tastemaker. Specifically, he didn’t think people driving around would be able to plug into the love story.
“I’ve never been so happy in my life to be that wrong about something, you know?” he tells Evan Paul.
Producer Bobby Braddock was part of the contingent that sold Shelton on “Austin.” He’s grateful he trusted him, and others.
“People that were like, ‘No, listen, shut up. Trust us on this one,'” he recalls. Look for Shelton to sing “Austin” and “Texas” in concert in 2025. He joked that he might play them back-to-back, and Evan Paul had thoughts on that.
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