Blake Shelton Releases Acoustic Version of ‘God’s Country’

Blake Shelton just dropped a new, acoustic version of his latest No. 1 hit, “God’s Country.” The song, written by HARDY, Devin Dawson and Jordan Schmidt, is from an upcoming new album.

The success of “God’s Country” has been one of the biggest surprises in Shelton’s two-decade career, especially since he was beginning to worry he had already experienced his best days in country music.

“It was the most shocking moment I’ve had in my 20 years of doing this,” Shelton told The Tennessean. “I was in a place physically that I consider to be God’s country doing the thing that makes me feel the most connected to God, which is working on the land.”

Shelton has had plenty of big hits since his debut “Austin” was released in 2001, including No. 1 hits like “Home,” “Hillbilly Bone” and “I’ll Name the Dogs,” among others, but believes the success of “God’s Country” will surpass all of them.

“Who would have ever thought that almost 20 years into my career, I’d have my biggest hit yet?” he continued. “I really feel like ‘God’s Country’ is that now. I was a little bit apprehensive about saying that maybe a month or two ago when it felt like it was taking off, but now it could be that. It’s unbelievable to me — the power of a song.”

The Oklahoma native knew as soon as he heard “God’s Country” that it was going to change his life.

“I was shocked,” Shelton recalled, adding that he was operating a skid steer while listening to new music. “I had to stop and just listen to this song, because the song was talking to me about a place that I was in at that moment, which was a place in the middle of nowhere that meant something to me that probably nobody else could ever understand, what that is and what it is inside of me and what my connection is to the land.

“At that moment, I realized, ‘I’ve gotta record this song,’” he added. “And I think I even decided before I even recorded it, ‘This has got to be the song that I put out next.’”

“God’s Country” has also convinced Shelton to head back into the studio – something he previously wasn’t sure he would do again, at least not for a while.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I have a couple of more songs I’m super excited about,” Shelton said.

The acoustic version of “God’s Country” is available for download on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty images/Jason Kempin