Blake Shelton's The Dreamer REVISED

I have lived in the rural area of South Carolina for my entire life and it was not always cool breezes and smooth talking country men.Townville, South Carolina (where I am from) had cow fields, chicken farms, a nearby lake can one can't throw a dead cat without hitting a church. The boys in school wore thick camo jackets, even in the summer, and they dipped in Mt. Dew bottles. The store parking lots were filled with trucks that had been modified to create more exhaust and sound louder than it needed to be. There were big green tractors, but I mostly just got stuck behind them on the way to school, not riding on them with an attractive county boy. I know not every southern town will be exactly the same, but when I have talked to other people about their "County life", it is pretty similar to mine. 

With Blake Shelton’s album The Dreamer from 2003 I was surprised that not every song was about the truck and girl who stole his heart. Each song had its own story, which is usually the appeal of country music. Although I usually feel as though they end up being about the same topic of either a southern girl, Christianity, or their truck on a dirt road. Blake Shelton is from Nashville, Tennessee(which is actually a pretty large town) where he might have had a different southern experience than I ever have. I am not saying that he is not southern because he is from a larger town, I mean he does have a pet turkey, that is pretty country in my eyes. 

                                                                               

One of his most famous songs, “The Baby”, is one of the typical story telling songs that so many people, including my high school drama teacher, loves. I may not have left home young and worked all across the country but I can relate with this song. My mom and I have a very close relationship, and as the youngest I truly am the baby of the family. The touching story of this song really brought me to tears, nearly.

Blake Shelton’s Album does not give me a false sense of what living in the south is like other songs I have heard. The songs do make one feel like they are partying in a barn or sitting on a southern porch in the heat of summer. I do also appreciate the fact that “My neck of the woods”, and a few others incorporate electric guitar and isn’t just the slow acoustic twang. I also like that song because it does remind me of the lake around my house, how sitting on the dock was pretty much a little piece of heaven.

This album is also a very good example of the accent that I have rarely heard from anybody down here in South Carolina. My accent is barely there, and that is what it usually is; barely there or closer to the super southern. Super southern is the accent that one will usually find in the low country areas of states, they are Blake Shelton's just without the refinement that allows the listener to understand what they are saying. I even thought to look up a video of a person speaking with Nashville accent and it does sound similar to what I have heard in my hometown. Even Shelton may have faked the accent a bit for the sake of non-southerners, it really does add a "country" mood to the songs that I actually appreciate.

Although this is a country album, there are also songs on the album that sway to other genres as well, such as "Georgia in a Jug", That song reminds me of Jimmy Buffet's  'Margaritaville', the beat, and instruments just give the feeling, but the lyrics are very country. "Mason jars on the dresser filled with quarters...and dollars.." that is a typical scene in a southern house. The combinations of different genres into the songs are great for attracting a variety of listeners to his art.

The Dreamer is an album that has a nice mixture of different country songs, a nice surprise for somebody who thought she would hate it. I guess my experience at with the boys from my school who liked the genre might have impacted my idea of it, considering the boys where not my kind of crowd. Now having actually listened to an album, I would recommend or even download this album. Mostly because the songs do not all sound the same, and every track has its very own story. There are slow steady beats that hang behind the lyrics and more dancing music that would make one want to wear cowboy boots at a Hoedown. As well as the story lines that range from being a mama's boy all the way to getting caught with his best friend in Mexico. This album was a nice way to have an introduction to the country genre, besides the overused songs from school dances.

Here is also a picture of Blake Shelton's pet turkey: