Crooning Buble

A year ago, it would have been a lot easier to land an interview with Michael Buble.

Along with Peter Cincotti, he was part of a Harry Connick Jr.-inspired pack of young crooners who seemed more at home performing the music of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin than anything more contemporary.

While he’s still crooning, Buble is doing it to a much wider audience, thanks to his 5 million-selling “It’s Time.”

That disc, his third, includes the hits “Home” and “Save the Last Dance for Me” and recently earned Buble four Junos, Canada’s version of the Grammy Awards.

Buble, who comes to the Spokane Arena’s Star Theatre on Wednesday, is not easy to track down these days.

But during a 15-minute break at a production studio in his hometown of Vancouver, B.C., he’s more than happy to talk about his career.

The 30-year-old has been singing for as long as he can remember.

“I knew that I wanted to do this from an early age,” says Buble (pronounced Boo-blay). “I was always pretty comfortable on stage.

“I’m actually more comfortable on stage in front of 10,000 people than talking one-on-one with one person. I have a lot more social anxiety in smaller situations.”

Unlike most singers his age, Buble is steeped in tradition, having early on become a fan of the singers he pays tribute to through his music.

“I grew up listening to Mel Torme and Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra,” Buble recalls.

His grandfather shared his interest.

“It was kind of this common ground for us … a way that a grandfather and a grandson could bond,” Buble says. “We also love hockey, so our topic of discussion would be who was the greatest hockey player, or who was the greatest crooner.”

Buble sang for years in talent shows and at conventions throughout Canada. Grammy-winning producer David Foster took him under his wing after hearing him sing at the wedding of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s daughter in 2000.

His self-titled debut CD sold 3 million copies, but it was “It’s Time” (along with a Starbucks commercial in which he sings “Come Fly With Me”) that shot him into the pop stratosphere.

With that success has come increased scrutiny by the press – especially in England, where a particularly personal story detailed Buble’s alleged carousing and womanizing. (He’s been dating actress Emily Blunt, who appears in “The Devil Wears Prada.”)

“It’s funny, because Clay Aiken came to my show in Sweden,” Buble says. “He’s a nice kid, and we were talking about the press beating up on us. He said, ‘You think you get beaten up, I get beaten up every single day.’ “

Buble says it hurts to read bad press.

“I’m terrible. I just care too much,” he says. “I’ve made some threatening phone calls. I’ve asked a few journalists if they want to meet and go toe-to-toe with me. It’s absolutely wrong of me to do that, but that’s my personality. I want people to like me.”

Many people certainly like his music, whether it’s his covers of songs from the past or newer numbers like “Home,” an original ballad that has struck a chord with the public.

“I’m not allowed to get tired of singing it,” says Buble, who in his stage show dedicates the tune to the troops in Iraq.

“I’ve been getting more and more letters, from troops and families of troops, and they tell me the song has become kind of an anthem for them,” he says. “If I can be this tiny, minuscule thing that helps make their lives better, then I’m happy.”

Buble has toured at times with his mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother, two sisters, their husbands and their two kids all in tow.

“They’re my entourage,” he says. “I’m not as cool as the guy on (TV’s) ‘Entourage,’ but it’s amazing for them, and for me, too. I’m really close to my family, and I’m glad they can enjoy this with me.”

The endless touring sometimes takes its toll on Buble. But he knows, bottom line, that he has it good.

“People say, ‘It must be hard,”’ he says. “I say, ‘You know, I sing music. It’s not all that bad.’ “