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Monday, March 16, 2009

Blake Shelton No. 1 Party Packs Surprises

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Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

March 16, 2009 — When Blake Shelton's "She Wouldn't Be Gone" was honored with a No. 1 party at BMI on Music Row on Friday, the event had quite a few surprises in store for Blake and his guests.
He knew he'd be getting some plaques and honors for topping the chart — he didn't know he'd be receiving a gold album, too, for Startin' Fires. And the crowd was genuinely shocked to have a non-music celeb in attendance: controversial baseball slugger Barry Bonds.
Even before the party started, Blake and his manager admitted to each other they were "freakin' out" over having a legend in their midst. Although it wasn't Barry who had them nervous.
"No!" Blake insisted. "Steve Wariner!"
Steve was indeed on hand, as was Golden Globe nominee and uber-songwriter Jeffrey Steele ("What Hurts The Most," "International Harvester"). Jeffrey and Barry serv ed as mentors to "She Wouldn't Be Gone" songwriter Jennifer Adan, who moved from the San Francisco Bay area to Nashville just a year and a half ago. Steve attended because of his friendship with Cory Batten, who co-wrote the song with Jennifer.
"I really liked my demo for this song," said Cory, who sang the version that got shopped around town. "But then I heard [Blake's] cut."
Cory also acknowledged Sharon Blazy, the late wife of his publisher Kent Blazy, perhaps best known as the co-writer of Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes." Sharon died just two months ago, putting a sobering twist on the celebration.
"She's here today," Cory said. "I know that."
Paired with his success on "Home," "She Wouldn't Be Gone" marks the first time Blake has scored back-to-back No. 1 hits in his career. It represents the first No. 1 single for both Cory and Jennifer — and it's the first cut she's received from any artist.
"We both knew we had written something special that day," Jennifer says of the September 2007 writing session that led to the song's creation. "But I don't think either one of us ever imagined that it would be a No. 1 song. This has been such a blessing."
It's also been a challenge for Blake, who now has to try and match his recorded performance in his concerts.
"I've been able to dump more20emotion into that vocal than any other than any other thing I've ever cut before," he says. "As far as the range of that song, man, it gets out of control and actually irritates me that it's so hard to sing sometimes."

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