Not many artists have a platinum-selling, five-week No. 1 hit with their debut single. Fortunately, Blake Shelton isn’t most artists. In 2001, Shelton released “Austin“. Written by David Kent and Kirsti Manna, “Austin” is on Shelton’s eponymous freshman record.
The song is about a woman who relocates to Austin after a breakup. One year later, she realizes the man she left is still waiting for her when she calls and hears a message on his answering machine that says, “And P.S. if this is Austin, I still love you.”
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“Austin” is the song that kick-started Shelton’s now legendary career, still having hit singles more than a quarter-century later. It’s a success story that almost didn’t happen, since Shelton was not a fan of the ballad, at least at first.
Bobby Braddock produced Shelton’s first record. In Braddock’s 2015 A Life On Nashville’s Music Row memoir, he reveals how close they both came to missing the magic of “Austin”.
“About a third of the way through the song, I was thinking, ‘This is pretty corny,’” Braddock remembers (via Songfacts). “About two-thirds of the way through, I thought, ‘This is kinda like one of those Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan love stories.’ By the end of the song, I had a lump in my throat. Blake, not the real ‘sensitive guy,’ found it a little mushy for his taste, but I asked him to listen again, and he warmed up to it a bit.”
What Blake Shelton Says About Recording “Austin”
Shelton recalls hearing “Austin” for the first time, never imagining the impact the song would have on his career.
“When I first heard ‘Austin,’ I thought it was just super cheesy,” Shelton tells Kelleigh Bannen, on her Today’s Country Radio on Apple Music. “And I was just like, ‘God, this guy is so desperate. Let it go, dude. It’s been a year; you’re still putting this answering machine message on? What are you doing?’”
Shelton concedes it’s Braddock and record label executive Debbie Zavitson who both ultimately convinced him to record “Austin”.
“Luckily, back then, I had Bobby Braddock and Debbie Zavitson in my ear going, ‘Listen, man, you need to just live with this song, work on it…” he remembers. “And I was just so stupid. I did, and thank God they stayed on me about that, because otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you 20 years later, probably.”
Not surprisingly, Shelton still includes “Austin” in his live shows.
Photo by Annamaria DiSanto/WireImage
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