Lenny Kravitz has too much going on. The 47-year-old multiplatinum rocker is hitting the road to promote his ninth album, “Black and White America,” which was released last year.‘All About Tonight’ Blake Shelton
Country singer Blake Shelton finally cracked the code to top-level success. This year, the Oklahoma native gambled by releasing a six-song album that capitalized on its title cut, “Hillbilly Bone,” which reached No. 1. The song led to him gaining the kind of attention reserved for country’s top stars – and landed him an ACM Award, the first of his nine-year career.
Now Shelton returns with a second six-song album, “All About Tonight.” The collection takes steps to reveal that Shelton can do more than sing rowdy party songs. A strong balladeer, he pours emotion and drama into “Suffocating,” written by Shelton’s fiance, Miranda Lambert, and Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum. Lambert also contributes vocals to a wickedly playful duet, “Draggin’ the River,” in which a couple fantasize faking her death so the two can run away together without drawing her father’s wrath.
Shelton calls these compact releases “six paks,” an appropriate (and creatively spelled) term for a singer who has found favor by becoming the life of the party. Fortunately, he shows he can do more than just kick up his heels, too.
