Blake Shelton hit the country music scene back in 2001 with his debut song “Austin” which went to # 1. It was a few years later that he played at one of our Acoustic concerts at the Ocala Civic Theatre with Van Zant and Jake Owen. Blake kept picking on Jake Owen the entire concert and joking and teasing him to the point that Jake finally said to him “You’re A D**k!!!!!! The audience howled with laughter and Blake did too. It became one of the most memorable moments in the history of our Acoustic concerts. After the show we were backstage and Blake asked me if there was a bar we could go to after the show and I recommended Charlie Horse up the road on Silver Springs Boulevard. We went and karaoke was going on. He joined in on the fun and no one there knew they were in the presence of a future Superstar in Country music and on TV! It was a fun night!
Years later in Tampa I was backstage and he played for us a new song he was excited about on his phone. It was “God’s Country”. Which later went on to be a huge hit. People ask me if Blake Shelton is the fun jokester that he is on The Voice as he is in real life and I can tell you that he truly is. He will joke around one on one with me as he will with 20,000 people at a concert. There is no difference. He is the real deal!
Lewis Stokes