Post Malone’s Mom Told Him Blake Shelton’s ‘Austin’ Was Written About Him: ‘He Said He Believed It’
If you were born Austin Richard Post and you heard a song called “Austin” by one of your mom’s favorite country singers, and she said it was about you, chances are you’d believe her. At least that’s what Post Malone told Blake Shelton.
Speaking to American Songwriter, Shelton said that when the men were working on their new joint single “Pour Me a Drink” from Posty’s upcoming star-packed debut country album, F-1 Trillion, Malone told him that he thought Blake’s 2001 debut single was written in his honor.
“Post’s real name is Austin, and he told me that when he was a kid, his mom told him that that song was written about him,” Shelton said of the 29-year-old rapper-turned-country crooner who would have been a first grader when Blake released his self-titled debut album. “That’s what he told me, and he said he believed it. His mom was, I guess, the country music fan in the family, and his dad was the rock guy. So, I guess that’s how Post Malone was created.”
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In the chorus of the twangy ballad about a lost love who moves to the Texas town, Shelton sings in the voice of his former girlfriend, crooning, “And by the way, boy, this is no machine your talkin’ to/ Can’t you tell, this is Austin, and I still love you.”
Malone and Shelton seem like they’re having a blast on “Pour Me a Drink,” a party tune about tipping one (or four) up with your pals and forgetting about your mistakes. “Guess I really went and messed it up again Now, my baby’s goner than the Tulsa wind/ Judgin’ by the stone-sober state I’m in/ Need to crack one wide open,” Shelton sings, with Malone adding on the chorus: “Somebody pour me a drink, somebody bum me a smoke/ I’m ’bout to get on a buzz, I’m ’bout to get on a roll.”
Shelton said he had a great time recording the song with Texas-bred Malone and now that they’ve hung out he can understand why his new pal is such a mega-selling/streaming artist. “I didn’t because at the end of the day, I just, for whatever reason, he asked me to do it—I’m proud,” Shelton said. “I’m proud of that record. I’m proud to have worked with him. I think he’s an incredibly talented guy. Now that I’ve spent some time with him, it’s no mystery to me that he’s as huge as he is as an artist and successful as he is because he’s just somebody that you just love being around. He’s just so much fun.”
Malone’s F-1 Trillion (August 16) is slated to feature a number of other A-list collaborations, including songs with Dolly Parton (“Have the Heart”), Morgan Wallen (Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 smash “I Had Some Help”), Tim McGraw (“Wrong Ones”), Brad Paisley (“Goes Without Saying”), Lainey Wilson (“Nosedive”), ERNEST (“Devil I’ve Been”), Chris Stapleton (“California Sober”) and Billy Strings (“M-E-X-I-C-O”), as well as Hank Williams Jr., Luke Combs, Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell.
The singer recently previewed some of the songs at his Bud Light “A Night in Nashville” show at Music City’s Marathon Music Works, where he played his collaboration with HARDY (“Hide My Gun”) and with Ferrell (“Never Love Again”), as well as the previously-released “Pour Me a Drink” alongside Shelton.
