Tuesday, October 23, 2012

BLAKE SHELTON COWBOY? SURE.


OCTOBER 23, 2012 - BLAKE SHELTON COWBOY? SURE. 
THE FIRST TIME BLAKE GOT PAID FOR A GIG
When Blake Shelton was growing up in Ada, Oklahoma he began to sing and playing the guitar at a young age and by the time he was in his mid-teens his aspirations of becoming a musician were evident. Blake performed in front of hometown crowds at the McSwain Theatre in Ada and he remembers the first time he was compensated for one of his performances. Shelton tells Cowboys & Indians, "One day, after about the sixth or seventh time that I performed there the guy that owned the show came up and handed me $40. And I was stunned. I was just beside myself. I was 15, 16 years old — I can't remember which —and I just stood there thinking, 'What the hell just happened? I just got money?' Because, hey, I would have paid him for the chance to play there. It was a really big moment for me. And I don't know if it ever crossed my mind that I could make a living doing it. But, yeah, I do think I'd already decided at that point that that's what I was going to do with my life either way."
When considering whether or not he could really make it as a professional musician, Blake also received encouragement from a fellow Oklahoman who was hitting it big at that time, Reba. Shelton shares, "Where she was born and raised isn't 35 miles from where I was born and raised. And while I was coming up, going to high school and being a country music fan, Reba McEntire was as big as you could get in country music, and as popular as you could be. And I couldn't believe she grew up right there (in Kiowa), that close to where I grew up. I figured if she could do it, I could do it."

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