a music publishing company and, in 1997, he was aided by Bobby Braddock to obtain a production contract with Sony Music. Music career 2001–2006: Beginnings Some years later in Nashville, he signed to Giant Records. In 2001, he was slated to release a song entitled "I Wanna Talk About Me" as a single. However, staff at the label considered the song unsuitable for a lead-off single, and the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, whose version was a number 1 single. Instead, Giant released "Austin" as Shelton's debut single. Shortly after that song was released, Giant Records was closed, and Shelton was transferred to parent company Warner Bros. Records. "Austin" became Shelton's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts and spent five weeks at that position. Warner released Shelton's self-titled debut album, which was produced by songwriter Bobby Braddock. It also produced the Top 20 hits "All Over Me", which Shelton co-wrote with Earl Thomas Conley and Mike Pyle, and "Ol' Red". Although Shelton's rendition of "Ol' Red" was not a major radio hit, he considers it his signature song, and it has become popular in concert. The album received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies. The album received a positive review from Maria Konicki Dinoia of Allmusic, who called "Austin" "tremendously imaginative" and praised Shelton for including songs written by Braddock and Conley. Country Standard Time was less favorable, with Scott Homewood saying that the "album just smacks of being assembled with the intent on capturing the burgeoning alternative country market". Shelton's second album, The Dreamer, was first released on February 4, 2003, on Warner Bros. Records. Its lead-off single, "The Baby", reached No. 1 on the country charts, holding that position for three weeks. Although the second and third singles ("Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World", respectively) only reached No. 32 and No. 24, The Dreamer earned gold certification, as well. He, along with Andy Griggs and Montgomery Gentry, sang guest vocals on Tracy Byrd's mid-2003 single "The Truth About Men". Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was the title of Shelton's third studio album, released in 2004. Its lead-off single, the Harley Allen co-write "When Somebody Knows You That Well", peaked at No. 37 on the country charts, while the follow-up "Some Beach" became his third