MUSIC Blaine Larsen now shows more maturity

Growing up has put this 20-year-old singer in position to succeed.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
It's not that unusual for a recording artist to pause two or three years between album projects. That time often is consumed with touring, writing and pre-production chores. But for newcomer Blaine Larsen, the three years between his first and second LPs seemed like a lifetime.
"Between when I made my last record and this new one it's been three years ... . That's the difference between ages 17 and 20," he tells Suzanne Alexander on "GAC Nights," (9 p.m. Sunday) "I feel like I've grown up a lot. I've gotten married and a lot of stuff has happened. This record is really a snapshot of that."
On the list of what has happened are early career achievements like hit singles "How Do You Get That Lonely," a searing look at teen suicide, and "The Best Man," about the stepfather who raised him; tour dates with Kenny Chesney and Gretchen Wilson and significant national media exposure.
Larsen has also married his longtime girlfriend, Sammie, earned his pilot's license and began construction on a home in Nashville. Not bad for a man who is still too young to buy a beer.
Records
The Buckley, Wash.-born singer made his first record for an unbelievably inexpensive $8,000 and had hopes of selling a limited number of them at gigs around the Seattle area. That little collection of "some songs I liked" led to a major label record deal that made Larsen one of the best-selling new artists of last year.
Larsen co-wrote four of the 12 cuts on his new "Rockin' You Tonight" LP and, like on his homemade debut, includes a track he wrote with his high school math teacher, David Bleam.
XLarsen will perform Saturday with Gretchen Wilson at the Post-Gazette Pavillion.