When Michael Bublé was asked how he felt going in to record his third studio album, Call Me Irresponsible, what was his response? “Terrified,” he says simply. “Completely, because I knew that it had to be better than the first two — that it had to show growth without alienating anyone, and that’s a tough line. So I sat there from the very beginning and came up with the songs, put together the skeleton, and thought about what arrangers I would hire. I even ended up at the mastering session, which artists rarely attend. I wanted to be involved in every aspect because I wanted it to be conceptually beautiful.” Call Me Irresponsible was released in May 2007 and debuted at No. 2 on the Top Billboard 200; the album quickly rose to No. 1 in its second week.

Bublé is a phenomenal artist with 11 million albums sold and two Grammy nominations under his belt. His fondness for music was practically evident from the cradle, when Bublé first began absorbing the sounds of Ella Fitzgerald, Keely Smith, Sarah Vaughan and Rosemary Clooney, with a liberal sprinkling of Stevie Wonder, Elvis, Bobby Darin, Vaughan Monroe and Ol’ Blue Eyes. “My grandfather was really my best friend growing up,” reveals Bublé. “He was the one who opened me up to a whole world of music that seemed to have been passed over by my generation. Although I like rock & roll and modern music, the first time my granddad played me the Mills Brothers something magical happened.”

In fact it was his grandfather who was most involved in moving Bublé toward a career in music. “He asked me, as a favor to him, to learn the songs that he loved so much,” Bublé continues. “It was kind of a guilt trip, but he didn’t have to do much convincing. I started practicing and entered a local talent contest. I won the competition, but was later disqualified for being underage. That was when my granddad, who was a skilled plumber, started offering to do free work for musicians in town in exchange for letting me perform a few numbers with them on stage.” And it was at that very time, a star was born.

Bublé’s pure passion for creating remarkable music in the studio does not compare to the essential feeling he gets when on stage. “I just love getting in front of people,” he says. “It’s so important to be in touch with your audience. They’ve paid their money. I want them to be entertained. If they want to cry or laugh or dance or sing or yell, they can do whatever they want. My responsibility is just to take them away.”

Please join us live at The Theatre at the Frank Erwin Center on February 27 at 8PM and let the sweet, smooth sounds of Bublé’s voice take you away.