Blake Shelton Says ‘God’s Country’ Reenergized Him For New Album

Blake Shelton Says ‘God’s Country’ Reenergized Him For New Album

Blake Shelton celebrated his brand new album, Fully Loaded: God’s Country, with an intimate iHeartCountry Album Release Party on Thursday night (December 12) in Los Angeles. Fans from all over the country attended the show where they got to see Shelton perform several of his greatest hits from over the years. 

The country star kicked off his set performing two previous hits from his If I’m Honest album, “Guy With A Girl” and “Came Here To Forget.” He then delivered a song he describes as “sitting around a campfire, singing along type” from his Texoma Shore album called “I Lived It.” 

Shelton then transitioned into some more recent tracks starting with his latest collaboration with Trace Adkins, “Hell Right" followed by the 2019 CMA Single of the Year and Grammy-nominated hit, "God's Country." The country star explained that the first time he heard the song he was working out on his ranch listening to music. 

“The song came on and it was just like ‘Oh my God! What is this song?’,” Shelton explains, adding, “It was just a combination of ‘A Country Boy Can Survive’ and I don’t know, something Van Halen would’ve done. It just had this weird blend of rock and country. I didn’t know what it was going to do for everybody, I just knew what it did for me.”

Halfway through his set, Shelton sang "I'll Name The Dogs," the first single off his Texoma Shore album. "Anytime you can sing a song about dogs, that's a country moment," Shelton says before diving the track. Following, he went right into his heartbreak anthem from his If I'm Honest album, "Every Time I Hear That Song."

One song on Shelton’s new record, “Nobody But You” is a duet with his girlfriend and pop singer, Gwen Stefani. Stefani wasn't able to make it out to the show, so Shelton didn't perform the track although he did share a bit more about how it was discovered by the couple.

Shelton says Stefani first introduced him to the song and when they heard it for the first time together they were so captivated by it that they played it over and over again. “We listened to the song probably 10 or 12 times in a row, just freaking out about it,” Shelton reveals. “And it wasn’t meant to be a duet, but it obviously as we heard it, knew that it was meant to be a duet for us anyway.” 

After talking about the duet with his girlfriend, Shelton went on to reveal the "most country thing" about Stefani. “There’s a photo of her when she was a kid with a cowboy hat on holding two kittens. That’s about as country of a thing as I can think of,” Shelton jokes, continuing on to reveal Stefani's newfound love for country music.

“I’ll tell you what, since we’ve been together, this girl has literally fallen in love with country music. It’s all that she listens to, it’s all that’s on in her car. And it’s not to do with me or anything," he says, adding, "She just wasn't exposed to a lot of country music growing up, but now, it's all she listens to."

After chatting about his girlfriend and their new duet, Shelton then transitioned into to a more serious moment where he opened up about what "Jesus Got A Tight Grip" means to him. He revealed that he rarely performs this song, which made the moment even more significant for fans in the crowd.

"It's a song about guys like me," Shelton explains. "I get out of line most of the time but I still know where the middle is and I know where I hope to go one day and that's what this song is about."

Shelton then played another heartfelt song but this time one from an older album, Pure BS. "The reason I wanted to do this particular song is because it's getting close to Christmas time and I don't know what it is, but this song for me personally has pretty much turned into a Christmas song. This one's called 'Home'," Shelton says.

To end the night, the country star performed the fan-favorite hit, "Boys Round Here" from Based On A True Story..., his eight studio album released in 2013. Shelton's new album Fully Loaded: God's Country is officially out now.

The "God's Country" singer plans to hit the road in 2020 for his "Friends and Heroes Tour." The trek, which ran earlier this year, will kick off again on February 16 in Portland, Oregon running through March 21 in Detroit, Michigan.

Back again for the second leg of the tour are supporting acts including Lauren Alaina, The Bellamy Brothers, John Anderson and Trace Adkins. All four of these artists were a part of the tour in 2019.

Tickets for the 2020 "Friends And Heroes Tour" are available now.

Blake Shelton's iHeartCountry Album Release Party Setlist:

  1. “Guy With A Girl”
  2. “Came Here To Forget”
  3. “I Lived It”
  4. “Hell Right”
  5. “God’s Country”
  6. “I’ll Name The Dogs”
  7. “Every Time I Hear That Song”
  8. “Jesus Got A Tight Grip”
  9. “Home”
  10. “Boys Round Here”

Photo: Wes and Alex for iHeartRadio


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