Music Forecast 2003

Country's Big Baby

A lot of country fans are crying for Blake Shelton's sophomore album, ''The Dreamer.'' It's not the long wait since the Okie's self-titled debut in 2001 (which helped him nail Country Weekly's Favorite New Artist) that's got them distraught. They're weeping over ''The Baby,'' a radio smash released months ahead of the CD. The single, about a youngest child and his dead mama, even makes Shelton wanna bawl -- and, admits the 26-year-old, ''I'm one of the coldest people I know.'' The country classicist reckons the genre could use more laments. ''It's great that artists are building careers around the lighter side of life. But that's leaving a big hole in what else people listen to country for...songs about the heartaches we go through.'' (Feb. 4)