2004

Chesney's Musical Adventure Began In 1987 Christmas Gift Proves Fruitful By Neil Haislop, Country Forever Productions NASHVILLE, TN Thursday 1.8.2004 /netmusiccountdown.com/ -- What was so special about 1987? According to Kenny Chesney, that was the year his casual interested in playing guitar, ended up beginning what's become one of the biggest careers in country music. ''Yeah. I asked Mom for a guitar for Christmas in 1987 and this has all evolved since then,' Kenny told us. 'I just wanted one, I just wanted to learn how to play. Some of my friends had guitars and was playing around on them a little bit. But I got that guitar and all of a sudden I was just in love, I was addicted. That's all I ever did, I played all the time and I took a couple of classes,' says Kenny who soon became obsessed by music. 'That's an obsession, it really was you know. And then about 3 months after I got my guitar I was - I wrote my first song, 3 months after - that March I think it was, that spring, I wrote my first song. And then a little bit after that I was playing them in bars, you know, making a little money here and there.' (Kenny's new album When the Sun Goes Down, debuts February 3rd and features a duet on the title song with pop star Uncle Cracker). ALSO, Kenny's 'There Goes My Life,' now ranks as both the last #1 hit of '03 and the first of '04. More on Kenny Chesney Copyright ©2004, Net Music Countdown. All Rights Reserved. [http://www.netmusiccountdown.com/news/article.php?id=4540]

Back To Top

Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Gets Flatt As a Kracker

For Immediate Release 7 January 2004 For More Information Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage Wes Vause for BNA Nashville Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Gets Flatt As a Kracker Kenny Chesney Mixes it Up For the 2nd Leg Behind When The Sun Goes Down Nashville, TN: If there's one thing Kenny Chesney knows how to do, it's have fun on the road. And how one tops a tour with three of country's most eligible bachelors -- Chesney, guitarslinger keith urban and Dierks Bentley -- seems like a building too tall for most mere mortals to leap! But leave it to the man who came in right behind Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band for most concert tickets sold last year, according to Pollstar, to shuffle the deck, cross-pollinate his genres and pull together what will no doubt be this summer's ultimate party tour: Guitars, Tiki Bars & Whole Lotta Love from Country Music Association Vocal Group of the Year Rascal Flatts and urban popster Unkle Kracker. "There's just something about making it a fun hang when you're playing those outdoor venues," Chesney says with a laugh. "When you're putting together a hang - whether it's on the lawn or back in the parking lot behind the stage, you wanna have cool people who know how to kick back and just get their groove on. I think we've got a great line-up for this summer." In addition to kicking the show off with his own set each night, Unkle Kracker will return to the stage during Chesney's set to do their duet, which is also the title track of Chesney's Feb 3 release When The Sun Goes Down. The percolating paean to the best part of the day being when the night arrives is a pure party anthem for the summer -- and a perfect mood setter for the tour. "I love being out there, playing these shows because my fans have more fun than we do… It's inspiring to watch'em actually," the Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist explains. "And there IS something about those outdoor shows, where people can show up early and tailgate, camp out on the lawn and just make a day of it, that is exactly the kinda thing I wanna do. So for those folks, it's really important to get the chemistry right. "Rascal Flatts aren't afraid to have a good time out there… I know they were out honky tonking with Ronnie and Kix after every show last year, so I think they're gonna know how to mix it up out here -- and Joe Don better watch himself on the basketball court 'cause we're all about that now. As for Kracker, he's the best -- anyone who can eat a bagful of Krystals at 10:30 in the morning belongs on this tour! Who knows what'll happen once we get out there - but after keith and Dierks, I knew we had our work cut out for us." With Guitars, Tiki Bars getting its unofficial lift-off when the nearly quadruple platinum-seller for No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems and urban took over the Rhumb Line in the Carribbean for 5 hours Jan. 2, running through just about every song either knew or could fake, the shoe officially gets on the road March 17 in Houston. Those dates will be keith urban and Dierks Bentley -- just for clarity's sake. Then it's take me back to Tulsa, as Chesney changes horses in the middle of the tour -- moving to Rascal Flatts and Unkle Kracker. The action- packed package hits all the major summer venues, starting at Tulas's Mabee Center on June 3. Having just inspired a new cocktail called the Cruzan Confusion in the islands, heaven only knows what kind of mixology the summer of 2004 will hold. its 5th straight week, Chesney begins gearing up for the release of When The Sun Goes Down. But mostly, "I'm ready to get back onstage… It's where I have the most fun in the whole world, and I miss it. Get ready… This year's gonna be bigger and better and even more everything. Promise." Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour Leg Too Kenny Chesney with Rascal Flatts and Unkle Kracker June 3 Tulsa, Oklahoma June 4 Wichita Falls, Texas June 5 Dallas, Texas June 9 Phoenix, Arizona June 11 Salt Lake City, Utah June 12 Las Vegas, Nevada June 13 San Diego, CA June 15 Mountain View, CA June 26 Milwaukee, Wisconsin* July 8 Cincinnati, Ohio July 9 Columbus, Ohio July 10 Baltimore, Maryland July 11 Hartford, Connecticut July 15 Birmingham, Alabama July 16 Charlotte, North Carolina July 17 Raleigh, North Carolina July 18 Holmdel, New Jersey July 22 Roanoke, Virginia July 23 Atlanta, Georgia July 24 Charleston, West Virginia July 25 Harrington, Delaware* July 29 Cheyenne, Wyoming July 30 Greenville, South Carolina July 31 Cheyenne, Wyoming August 5 Detroit Lakes, Minnesota* August 7 Indianapolis, Indiana August 8 Fort Wayne, Indiana August 12 Albany, New York August 13 Bristow, Virginia August 14 Virginia Beach, Virginia August 19 Louisville, Kentucky* August 20 Cleveland, Ohio August 21 Detroit, Michigan August 22 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August 26 Darien Lakes, NY August 27 Mansfield, Massachusetts August 28 Portland, Maine** August 29 Essex Junction, Vermont* August 31 Syracuse, New York* September 1 Allentown, Pennsylvania September 9 Bonner Springs, Kansas September 10 Maryland Heights, Missouri * Kenny Chesney only, ** Kenny Chesney/Unkle Kracker only More Dates To Come Please Confirm with Venue Before Traveling Long Distances ############## [http://www.joesgarage615.com/CHESNEYtikitour1.htm]

Back To Top

Kenny Does The S.E.C.

For Immediate Release 9 January 2004 For More Information Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage Wes Vause for BNA Nashville Kenny Does The S.E.C. When The Sun Goes Down You Can Bet Chesney's Got a "Keg In The Closet" One Band, One Van + A Whole Lotta Laughs -- Somewhere in the SEC: As anticipation for When The Sun Goes Down, the first new music from Kenny Chesney in three years hitting streets Feb 3, grows, the man People deemed "Sexiest Country Singer Alive" decided to take it to the streets for some fun before the big time show business begins. Rather than get all serious about what's about to happen, his winter break now includes barn-storming the Southeastern Conference. "You know when I was starting out as a singer in bars with a guitar, I spent so much time chasing my dream, I missed all the fun of college life…," begins the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist, then laughs. "Okay, naww….. that's not true. And now you know we work so hard, we hardly have any time to kick back and just, you know, get back to those… well, yeah, okay, that's not right either. "Truth is -- we thought it'd be a riot to get in a van, strip it all back and play some colleges. Get right down in the middle of it, back to where the bug caught every guy in this band. We were all guys who had tooooo much fun in college, who remember those killer bars near campus where beer was cheap, you were covered in sweat and the girls were all prettier than the next. That's so free -- and so fun -- that before we start the big business of When The Sun Goes Down and load up the semis for Guitars & Tiki Bars, I wanted to just kick it back down to how it is when you're living on dreams and flat meat." With a van, the band and on a few of the dates Unkle Kracker behind the wheel, look for these very merry men to roll through Auburn, 'Bama, Florida State, Ole Miss, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia. We're talking low dough shows, all about giving back the door to a local charity -- and no adult supervision. It'll be about getting back to the bars, making it easy and not having the business behind Chesney's tours, which helped make him the #3 ticket-seller of 2003 behind no less than Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band. "We know how to do big shows, with video screens and tons of lights," Chesney says. "But those nights when I jump up in a bar somewhere in the Caribbean with my guitar, those really root you in why you do it. My guys don't have that luxury, so this is about us as a band as much as anything -- and the fact that we can get back too colleges, back to the innocence of those places, well, that's everything I'd like to think my music is about." When The Sun Goes Down -- whose lead single "There Goes My Life" sits at #1 for the 6th week -- is the follow-up to Chesney's almost quadruple platinum No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, which spawned the 8 week #1, Most Played Song of 2002 and Academy of Country Music Single of the Year "The Good Stuff," the CMT Entertainer and Best Male Video of the Year "Young" and the seemingly unstoppable title track. When The Sun Goes Down -- featuring Unkle Kracker on a percussive celebration when they party really starts on the title track and the combustive "Keg In The Closet," embracing the freewheeling exuberance of life before the real world sets down -- create the feel-good vibe people have come to expect from the heavy metal country supernova. As previously announced, Chesney will kick off his tour -- officially -- with keith urban and Dierks Bentley March 17 in Houston. But if that guy in the boggan on campus looks familiar, don't be surprised if somewhere that night, you hear there's a keg in a closet and a concert next door. ############

Back To Top

Chesney Proud of Manning

With the Indianapolis Colts having a shot at the Super Bowl, Kenny Chesney says he's proud of his friend, quarterback Peyton Manning. "Last spring, I had a break from the tour, and Peyton, his wife Ashley, a friend of mine and I went down to the islands and we were sitting there on the beach," Chesney tells CMT News. "We sat there all day long, and I said 'Peyton, what would it take for you guys to get to the Super Bowl?' … And he goes, 'Well, I just need a couple more guys to throw to and for our defense to be a little better and just for it all to jell.' And I was sitting there Sunday, and I was proud for him because all that has come true. He was right. They've got as good a chance to win the Super Bowl as anybody." Tue. January 13.2004 6:30 PM EST [http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1484331/01132004/chesney_kenny.jhtml ]

Back To Top

KENNY CHESNEY ON BUFFETT ALBUM Kenny Chesney says he's already recorded his part for a song called "License to Chill," that will appear on Jimmy Buffett's upcoming album, called CONKY TONKIN.' Chesney recorded the song last month reports MJI. Buffett announced the album, that will also include Alan Jackson, while the two met the press backstage at the CMA Awards in November. [http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html]

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney, Peyton Manning have an ongoing friendship. Prime-time pals

Kenny Chesney will be rooting for Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts when they play the New England Patriots on Sunday. -- Scott Gries / Getty Images Kenny Chesney • 1994: Debut album "In My Wildest Dreams" • 1997: ACM's Top New Male Vocalist • 1999: No. 1 country hit "How Forever Feels" • 2003: 964,811 concert tickets sold Peyton Manning • 1994: First game at Tennessee • 1997: Finishes second in Heisman Trophy voting • 1999: Colts finish 13-3, win AFC East • 2003: NFL co-MVP; Colts win AFC South By David Lindquist [email protected] January 17, 2004 Kenny Chesney lives and works in the land of the NFL Titans, but he'll be rooting for the Colts on Sunday when they play the New England Patriots for the AFC Championship. The country music star's allegiance begins in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., also home to the University of Tennessee. And because Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is one of the school's all-time football greats, the heartthrob singer and touchdown slinger have known each other for years. Chesney even sang at Manning's 2001 wedding. Manning played his first game as a Volunteer in 1994, the same year Chesney released his debut album. The friends have made steady progress in their careers ever since, even hooking up for a singing duet on a compilation album called "NFL Country" from Manning's 1998 rookie season. But, as Chesney says, "it's never been better than it is right now for either one of us." In 2003, the man behind "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" sold nearly 1 million concert tickets and was named male vocalist of the year by the Academy of Country Music. Manning, of course, shared MVP honors with Steve McNair. Chesney, who has prepared a new album, "When the Sun Goes Down," for release Feb. 3, says he's a big fan of Manning's work ethic. "I could tell it bothered him when people said he couldn't win a playoff game," Chesney said during a telephone interview. "He's a competitive person. Now he's won two, and he's a win away from the Super Bowl." While the two stars maintain a close friendship, the musician says conversations are rare during football season. In August, Chesney joined Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers and other celebrities at a charity bowling tournament hosted by Manning. "I made a joke when I left: 'OK, I'll see you in the spring,' " Chesney said. "He gets in that mode and he's a very focused individual." It's become a summer tradition, though, for Manning to join Chesney on the road for a handful of concert dates. The 6-foot- 5-inch, 27- year-old quarterback rides on a tour bus and stands onstage with a guitar strapped over his shoulder. When Chesney and Kid Rock recorded a version of "Luckenbach, Texas" for a recent Waylon Jennings tribute album, Manning added backing vocals. A universal truth, Chesney claims, is that all professional athletes want to be professional singers, and all singers want to be athletes. "I quit growing when I was a freshman in high school," says Chesney, a 35-year-old who would line up at wide receiver at 5-foot-8, 150 pounds. "Marvin Harrison isn't looking over his left shoulder at me wanting his job." Still, for all of the recording-star fantasies that he's helped Manning fulfill, Chesney would love a chance to practice with the Colts. He says he dropped a few hints to Coach Tony Dungy during Manning's bowling event. But so far, his day in full pads has yet to arrive. [http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/112062-1079-047.html

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney Celebrates the Writers of "There Goes My Life"

Latest Hit Becomes Singer's Second Single to Spend Seven Weeks at No. 1 By: Edward Morris Looking more street waif than superstar, Kenny Chesney showed up dutifully at two parties Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 20) to celebrate Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, the writers of his marathon No. 1 single, "There Goes My Life." ASCAP, a performance rights society, honored Thrasher, while BMI, its chief competitor, toasted Mobley. "There Goes My Life" held the top spot on the Billboard country singles chart for seven weeks. Chesney previously enjoyed a seven- week No. 1 with "The Good Stuff." A world apart from the strutting, muscled, take-charge guy fans see on stage, Chesney seemed almost timid at the parties, moving unobtrusively by himself around the edges of the crowd until he was stopped by a well-wisher or summoned into the spotlight. His costume - - a gray knit cap pulled down tightly oover his ears, baggy khaki pants, pale blue T-shirt and brown work shoes -- reinforced his inclination to blend in. When he spoke to congratulate the writers, his remarks were brief but clearly heartfelt. It was the first No. 1 song for Thrasher, who once sang in the short- lived Asylum Records duo, Thrasher Shiver. "I didn't think my first No. 1 would be as a writer but as an artist," he told the crowd. Connie Bradley, ASCAP's senior vice president, awarded him the traditional monogrammed jacket for his achievement. Thrasher's father Joe, who adorned the country charts in the late 1970s and early '80s as lead singer of the Thrasher Brothers, looked on approvingly as the praise poured in. "He got close to [a No. 1] before with 'I Lost It,'" Chesney said, alluding to Thrasher's co-authorship of the single that peaked at No. 3 in 2000. "I knew ['There Goes My Life'] would touch a lot of people," the singer continued. "Great songs just aren't written -- there's always some emotion behind them." In accepting his award, Chesney's producer, Buddy Cannon, wisecracked, "I want to thank Norro Wilson for quittin.'" Wilson, who formerly co-produced Chesney's albums and many other projects with Cannon, has cut back lately on his studio work. Songwriter Mobley was center stage at the BMI fest. Perry Howard, who works in writer relations for BMI, told partygoers that Mobley came to Nashville in 1987 and soon made a name for himself as a demo and studio singer. He would make a much bigger name, though, as a songwriter, co-penning such hits as "How Forever Feels" for Chesney and "I Melt" for Rascal Flatts. Howard presented engraved cups to Mobley, Chesney and Cannon, as well as to Tom Baldrica, vice president of national promotion for Chesney's record label, BNA, and Dale Bobo, head of Warner/Chappell Music, Mobley's publisher. "As always," said Baldrica, "my hat's off to Kenny Chesney, who continues to make kick-ass records." In lauding Mobley, Bobo remarked, "If it weren't for Toby [Keith], we'd be doing a No. 1 party for ['I Melt']." Keith's "I Love This Bar" blocked "I Melt" last year at the No. 2 niche. Diamond Rio's lead guitarist, Jimmy Olander, who co-wrote "I Lost It" with Thrasher, was among the BMI revelers. When he took the microphone, Mobley thanked "the most awesome combination in country music right now -- Kenny Chesney and Buddy Cannon." Sporting a freshly tinted and tousled haircut, Mobley had some fun at his co-writer's expense. "Neil is actually the sixth member of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," he said. "He did my hair tonight."

Back To Top

KENNY CHESNEY CELEBRATES 9 WEEKS OF PERSPECTIVE At Kenny Chesney's #1 party for "There Goes My Life," Kenny was asked if 7 weeks-at-number one hits like that mean his career is getting easier? Chesney came up with a comparison of 9 weeks, then and now. "I don't want to say that it's coming easier now, but when you get your hands on a song like "There Goes My Life," or the past four or five that we've had, it's been fun there's no doubt about it. And it's definitely different than it was in the mid-90's. "There Goes My Life" went number one in nine weeks and I was talking to some guys at the label, you know, it took us nine weeks to get to #30 at one time. So it is different right now, no doubt about it." [http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html]

Back To Top

No, Kenny won't be in a bikini When you open your annual Sports Illustrated issue this spring, you'll see … Kenny Chesney? Well, sort of. Kenny and Jimmy Buffett cut a Caribbean-ish duet called License To Chill, a song for Buffett's upcoming album. Sports Illustrated likes it. The magazine likes it so much that its swimsuit issue models are featured in the music video. And a DVD of that same video will be included in each and every one of the 6 million copies printed. ''I'd say I don't think I look very good in it,'' said Kenny, who was fighting Nashville's flu bug the day he hit Buffett's Key West recording studio. Not that that matters much, he adds. ''Because once you start seeing all those girls — and they're even cuter and better looking in action — it'll be like 'Jimmy who? Kenny huh?' And you know what, I'm IN the video, and I feel EXACTLY that way, too!'' [http://www.tennessean.com/celebrities/archives/04/01/45830908.shtml? Element_ID=45830908]

Back To Top

Sun Goes Down on Keg Leg One Comes Up As Kenny + Kracker Hit Miami for Video Shoot Just Above The Florida Keys: Gainesville, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia are still standing in the aftermath of Leg One of the Keg In The Closet college bar barn-storming warm-up for Kenny Chesney's Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour. And as the sun sits high in the South Florida sky, the exhausted musicians are waist deep in shooting a video for Chesney/Unkle Kracker duet "When The Sun Goes Down," the title track of the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist's Feb. 3 release. "So far, no one's gotten arrested, but I almost got a tattoo," reports the man who tops the Billboard country chart for the 7th week with "There Goes My Life," sleepily.. "There was a tattoo place right next to the 40 Watt (Club) and I thought about a palm tree with a guitar. But even that wouldn't be enough to remember this run by…" It's been no holds barred for sure. Hitting the stage in Tallassee at 10 p.m., Chesney, Kracker and Co. didn't surrender until 1:45 the next morning -- "and we played every Hank Jr. song I know! Being from East Tennessee, too, boy, I know some Hank Jr. now…" -- and well over 200 people stood outside Athens' 40 Watt Club with the front doors propped open, just so they could hear what was going on inside. And that's only the first half of the pandemonionic college club tour, which benefits locally selected charities in each of the markets.## "When we finished in Athens, we jumped on the bus 'cause we knew we needed to be in Miami early," Chesney says of the making- it-all-the-most logistics. "But we left so fast, we didn't even think to get food for bus. Somewhere just over the Florida line, everybody decided they needed to eat. We pulled into a Steak'n'Shake -- and no, I DIDN'T eat -- but everybody piled in. Some lady walked up to me, awho was obviously not one of our fans and said, 'Hey, how was that show in Tallahassee the other night? Everybody 'round here's just been talking and talking about it…,' which make me feel pretty good since we can only get so many people in." With Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, Auburn in Auburn, Alabama and 'Bama in Tuscaloosa on this week's itinerary, all the guys have to do is survive 36 hours in Miami and the Keys with the equally good- timing Unkle Kracker. Kicked back in Coconut Grove between set-ups, Chesney and company were laughing and lapping up the weather and the green label beers. "Whoever said this was work has obviously never considered putting on a suit and tie…," laughs the man People deemed one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" from a surf shop in the Grove. "This is what I call living.## "And it's turns out Kracker's never been to Key West, and he really wants to grab a beer at (legendary Hemingway hang-out) Sloppy Joes. Since we're on a mission to chase the sun and see what happens when we lose site of it, I can't think of a better next move than to take that 7 Mile Bridge into the Keys. I'd bet good money we're gonna pack up the gear, and run for the end of the country!" When The Sun Goes Down -- whose title track shipped to country radio this week -- is the follow-up to Chesney's almost quadruple platinum No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem, which spawned the most played song of 2002 with the 8-week #1 and Academy of Country Music Single of the Year "The Good Stuff," the CMT Entertainer and Best Male Video of the Year "Young" and the seemingly unstoppable title track. As previously announced, Chesney will kick off his tour -- officially -- with keith urban and Dierks Bentley March 17 in Houston. But between now and then, there's college bars to rock, videos to make and a whole lotta living to do. posted: 1/26/2004 [http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htm?inc=news&nws_id=2913]

Back To Top

Chesney, Uncle Kracker Shoot Video Mon. January 26.2004 6:00 PM EST Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker spent Monday (Jan. 26) in South Florida shooting the video for "When the Sun Goes Down." Written by Nashville songwriter Brett James, the song serves as the title track of Chesney's new album, set for Feb. 3 release. The video shoot took place during Chesney's Keg in the Closet tour of small bars near college campuses. The brief tour gets its name from a song Chesney and James wrote for the new album. The tour continues this week in Oxford, Miss., before heading to Alabama for shows in Auburn and Tuscaloosa. [http://www.cmt.com/news/news_in_brief/]

Back To Top

Chesney Cancels Ole Miss Gig Decision Made After Learning of Ticket Distribution Problems By: CMT.com Staff On an informal tour of college towns, Kenny Chesney cancelled a Wednesday night (Jan. 28) appearance near the University of Mississippi in Oxford after learning of problems with the way the tickets were distributed. The Ole Miss campus newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, reported that only 30 tickets to the show at the Library were actually sold through the authorized ticket outlet, the Rebel Barn. However, even those tickets were priced $5 higher than the $10 advertised locally. Rebel Barn owner David Sage told the newspaper, "This is a high- profile show. There were only 400 tickets on sale, and 370 were already sold before they got to us." Police told those waiting to buy tickets that the owner of the Library had already given away the 370 tickets. Noting that the ticket situation was not in line with the spirit of his Keg in the Closet tour, Chesney said, "This was supposed to be about the students and the fans. Having a chance to come into their world where they live their lives every day and bring out music, that's the ultimate way of turning this thing around." Chesney added, "When we got to town, a fan told me and my tour manager how many people had stood in line to get tickets and how many were turned away because there were not tickets available. To me, that ain't right ... and it's not what we set out to do. This was supposed to be fun, to be about bringing the music back to where it started for us and to raise some money for charity. When it stops being about that, then we needed to re-think what we're doing." After completing the tour of college bars, Chesney will return to Mississippi for a March 19 show in Tupelo. The concert is part of his Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love tour with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley. [http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1484665/20040128/chesney_kenny.jhtml ?headlines=true]

Back To Top

MOVIN' ON Gearing up for another blockbuster tour, KENNY CHESNEY talksabout a heartbreak that healed, rumors that he got married, andthe personal insights you'll find on his new album The waves are lapping at the shore only a few feet away from the feet of Kenny Chesney, relaxing at his favorite hideaway in his beloved Caribbean islands. The country superstar couldn't be farther from the cold winter temperatures of his Music City home - but that doesn't mean his mind is staying off Nashville. "I've gotta go back in about a week and go to work," he says with a smile. "I've got an album coming out." That album is the brand-new When the Sun Goes Down, Kenny's eighth record. He describes it as "a sigh of relief from all that emotional stuff from the last one," referring to No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, a collection of songs filled with tales of damaged relationships and heartbreak. "The No Shoes album was a portrait of me emotionally, what I was going through with my ex-fiancee," admits Kenny. "There was a lot of hurt on that record." For the first time, Kenny is finally ready to talk about the heartache that followed the breakup between him and his former fiancee, Mandy Weals. They called it quits in 2000. Mandy even appeared in the sun-soaked video for Kenny's hit "How Forever Feels," frolicking with him in the sand and surf. When the relationship ended, Kenny poured his pain into his work and relied on friends, family and getaways to the Caribbean to help in the healing. "I realized one day that I wasn't going to make anybody happy for the rest of my life until I made myself happy," reveals Kenny. "So time was a big factor. And experiencing the islands down here made me realize I still had a good life and a lot to live for. I learned how to be happy again. Mandy and I don't keep in touch anymore. But I'd do anything for her. She's getting married and we've both very much moved on." Read more of Movin' On and more in the current Newsstand Issue on sale now! -- Story by Wendy Newcomer Published on: January 30, 2004 [http://www.countryweekly.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=60600]

Back To Top

MEANWHILE, CHESNEY IS DATING AGAIN Kenny confirms in Country Weekly's Feb. 17th issue, that he's seeing one lady "in particular," these days, but there are no wedding bells to be heard in the near future. "I'm a very driven person," he tells Country Weekly. "That's one of the reasons I'm not ready to get married, I don't want anybody to feel second. I'm smart enough to realize that right now isn't the perfect time." [http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html]

Back To Top

Chesney Sheds Light on When the Sun Goes Down (Part 1 of 2) Singer Reflects on New Music, Old Books, High School and a Blue Chair By: Craig Shelburne In these cold winter months, Kenny Chesney provides a glimpse of the island life, with his new studio album When the Sun Goes Down, due Tuesday (Feb. 3). In the first segment of a two-part interview with CMT.com, the tan Tennessee native remembers his own post- graduation road trip, what hangovers and relationships have in common and the view from his favorite blue chair. CMT: In the locker room scenes for your video of "There Goes My Life," did you flash back to your days in high school? Chesney: No doubt about it. When I heard that song a lot of things flashed through my mind. I felt that "There Goes My Life" is a song about transitions and one of my biggest transitions was the last time that I played high school football. The last game --- that's a pretty real feeling to know that you're never going to put those shoulder pads on ever, ever again, you know? My buddies and I grew up. None of us were going to play college football, so that last game was the last game. That's one of the first big transitions in my life, and so that's why I wanted to take that direction with the video. Were you a fan of high school? Was I a fan of high school? Certain parts. (laughing) Yeah, but I don't know that I'd go back. But yeah, I had a good time in high school. I know you headed off to Myrtle Beach after your graduation for a while. What do you remember the most about that trip? Not a lot! (laughing) We had a good time, I know that. It was just a bunch of guys that put our stuff in a couple of pickup trucks and drove from Knoxville to Myrtle Beach for a senior trip. I haven't seen a lot of those guys in a long time since then … you know, a few times. But looking back, it was drinking goodbye to all of them, and that's the way it was. Yeah, we had a great time, and I'd do that again. (laughing) The song that struck me the most on your new record was "Anything But Mine." It's a powerful song, and a little different from what you hear on other people's records. When you're listening to thousands of songs for a record, how do you find a song like that? It's a gut feeling. Everybody has their own history and their own past and their own truth about their life. The first time I heard "Anything But Mine," you're right, it was definitely not the same thing you'd hear on everybody else's record. That's the first thing I loved about it. But when I was in college, I went to Daytona for spring break, and I fell in love with this girl from Georgia for a week, and we hung out all week, and that's what this song is about. Summer love at a beach and maybe experiencing, tasting love for the first time and having to let it go all in the same seven-day period. That song painted a picture of that moment in my life, more than a lot of them have. No doubt about it. I was surprised to hear songs like "Being Drunk's a Lot Like Loving You" and "Keg in the Closet," because you have a reputation for staying healthy and being fit. Are you still a partier? (laughing) Well, I don't party around town, but when I go to the islands, I let it loose a little bit. I had a lot of fun in college, no doubt about it. "Keg in the Closet" is definitely a song about my existence of hanging out in a fraternity house for a couple of years. We had a good time and that's a very real song about that time in my life. "Being Drunk's a Lot Like Loving You" is one of those songs where I learned the hard way -- when you go out and have a little bit too much to drink, and you wake up with a hangover. And if the hangover is bad enough, the pain in your head never seems to go away, and you swear you're never gonna drink again. …Well, it's the same way with getting your heart broken, same way with love. If you break up with somebody or they break up with you, or it just doesn't work out, the pain never seems to go away, and you swear that you're never gonna love again. There's just a correlation there. What's really tough is when you experience both those things in the same 24 hours. (laughing) So that's where that song came from. I also liked "Old Blue Chair," which you wrote. I really liked your perspective. How did that one come about? I wrote more songs on this record than I have in the past couple. I got into the business as a songwriter, and it's part of my life that I love a lot. When I went through a pretty rough time, after my fiancée and I broke up, I discovered this little island down in the Caribbean. I stayed at this little house, and on this certain stretch of beach, there was this blue rocking chair. I would just sit in the sun and read all day and listen to music. I realized that over the past four or five years, a lot of the pictures that I've taken down there had that blue chair somewhere in it. We were either sitting in it, or it was in the background. So I said, "What can I write about this chair?" And I realized that I've lived a lot in that chair in the past couple years. Like the song says, "I've read a lot of books, wrote a few songs, looked at my life, where it's going, where it's gone. I've seen the world through a bus windshield, but nothing compares to the way that I see it when I sit in that old blue chair." That's the view of the world that I love. That's where the song came from. When you go back there now and sit in it, what do you see now that you didn't see before? Well, it's a different view. I'm not as mad at the world as I was when I first sat in that chair. (laughing) I was pretty mad when I first sat in that chair, the breaking-up with my girlfriend and all that kind of stuff. It's more of a sigh of relief now when I sit in that chair than it was before. (laughing) You mentioned reading earlier. What do you like to read? I just finished reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven. That's a really great book. I love Hemingway, and for the third time I just read The Old Man and the Sea. It's one of my favorite books ever. You grew up in east Tennessee, but you've got that island-and-sea theme going, even with reading Hemingway. Somewhere in my family tree, there was somebody that loved the islands, and I don't know who it was. (laughing) But I got it. Yeah, I grew up in east Tennessee. It's kind of odd that I grew up in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains and I still love that, but I've really, really got a love affair for the tropics. No doubt about it. [http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1484752/20040202/chesney_kenny.jhtml ?headlines=true]

Back To Top

Kenny's Tan, Rockin' and Up All Night -- When The Sun Goes Down Hits "Kimmel" Feb. 6, "Conan" Feb. 19 ACM Top Male Vocalist Also Wakes Up with "Good Morning America" Feb 18 Nashville: Having survived the Keg In The Closet tour of the hip bars at 5 Southeastern Conference colleges -- and one unscheduled jam, where Kenny Chesney actually got to help distribute the tickets for the next night's show -- it's time for the Luttrell, Tennessean to get back to the business of being Kenny Chesney. Spending the week barn-storming America's major country markets in a jet -- often hitting 2 and 3 cities a day -- the man who just spent seven weeks at #1 on Billboard's Country Singles Chart with "There Goes My Life" will still be able to mainline his bachelor/music matters lifestyle with stops at "Jimmy Kimmel" on this Friday Feb. 6 and "The Late Show With Conan O'Brien" on Thursday, Feb. 19. "The folks at 'Conan' got that we were reaching beyond the basic country audience when No Shoes came out, and it was important to me to do that show early," says Chesney. "The guy who books 'Conan' really knows music… and I get turned onto acts on there all the time, so I was excited when they asked me -- and i'm thrilled to go back. "As for 'Kimmel,' we did that show right after it went on the air. They put up a stage for us in the parking lot, and it was almost like a real show. They're crazy in the best way out there, and it shows when you get up to play. So when we knew we had a West Coast opening to do something, that's what I wanted to do." Given the tremendous response to the Keg In The Closet Tour, it's obvious that college kids love Kenny Chesney. With hundreds of people camped out in the cold overnight in each city, hoping to get their hands on tickets to the club-sized shows, it's in keeping with the momentum of the man who sold out Minneapolis' Excel Center in 3 hours -- and whose When The Sun Comes Down was not released in advanced to reviewers for fear of piracy. "There's a lot of energy out there, I can tell you that!" says the East Tennessee singer/songwriter with a good natured laugh. "No matter where we go, you could feel it. And doing that college tour may be the best thing I've done in a long time, because it really did re-remind me what we do this for, where we come from as people, why music has always mattered so much and how much fun it is for everybody -- the fans, the crew, the band, the bus drivers, even - if you're doing it right!" In addition to his late night televised sojourns, Chesney wakes up for "Good Morning America" on Wednesday Feb 18, where he'll perform "There Goes My Life." "It's a different kind of show, a different kind of vibe -- and because of working out, even though you'd think I'd have a hard time being awake at that hour, I'm usually on my way to the gym then anyways, so it'll just be a different kind of workout." Well over one million copies of When The Sun Goes Down have been shipped for Tuesday -- and the first million have a special bonus feature: three songs live from Chesney's Neyland Stadium show -- Chesney may well repeat his opening at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 all- genre album chart. As the title track -- featuring Unkle Kracker -- is starting to sail up the chart, it's looking more and more like anything goes for the guy who looks out into the lawn every night on his summer concert dates and sees a lot of people just like himself. posted: 2/02/2004

Back To Top

Chesney entertains fans in a relaxed atmosphere

Kenny Chesney, one of country music's biggest stars, played a low-key concert to a capacity crowd of 575 at the Jupiter Bar & Grill. -- Grace Davis, entertainment editor Kenny Chesney performs before a sell-out crowd of UA students and country music fans at the Jupiter Bar & Grill. Photo by Jennifer Gray. Kenny Chesney played a concert of his original greatest hits as well as his versions of classic country and rock `n' roll favorites to a capacity level crowd at the Jupiter Bar & Grill Friday night. Chesney, the Academy of Country Music's top male vocalist of 2003, opened the 10 p.m. concert with crowd favorites, including "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," "Young," "Don't Happen Twice," "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" and "There Goes My Life." After 1 1/2 hours, Chesney and his band seemed to be truly enjoying themselves as they began playing covers of classic hits. "Now is when the set list says I'm supposed to stop playing, but if you don't mind, I'm going to keep going," Chesney told the audience. "That means you have to forgive what we might sound like, because it's really not rehearsed." Chesney and his band played their versions of hits by artists that included Bon Jovi, Hank Williams Jr., Jimmy Buffett and the group Alabama as the crowd sang along with every tune. "I really felt like we weren't getting a big corporate show," Shane Picklesimer, a senior communication studies major, said. "It was like we were all hanging-out at the bar, and Kenny got on stage and started playing." The audience was almost equally comprised of both college-age fans as well as 30-years-old and above. Despite the range in ages, the audience was united by two ideas—a love for Chesney's music and a love for Alabama athletics. Chesney played on this second passion during the performance. "I may be the biggest Tennessee fan, but I really dig that `Roll Tide' thing y'all do," Chesney said. "It is definitely better than what those people were yelling last night in Auburn." He led the audience in numerous "Roll Tide" chants during the concert as he instructed the crowd to "yell so loud the kids at that `other state school' can hear you." During the three-hour concert, Chesney kept the focus off himself and on the fans, setting the tone as he walked unassumingly on stage in a simple T-shirt, Alabama baseball cap and his signature tight blue jeans. No loud introduction was made, Chesney simply began singing. "It seemed like Kenny really wanted to keep the focus on the college kids having a great time," Picklesimer said. "He made sure tickets were affordable for our budgets, and he didn't make the show all about him." Chesney ended the performance at 1:40 a.m. with the audience's nightlong request of Lynard Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." "I have been to his concerts in Birmingham and Huntsville, but this one was by far the best because it was so small," Jennifer Gray, a sophomore computer science major, said. Chesney's latest album, "When the Sun Goes Down," will be released on Feb. 3. The album includes the seven-week number one hit, "There Goes My Life." Chesney kicks-off a nationwide tour to promote his album on March 17 in Houston, Texas. The tour includes a stop at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex on July 15. For more information visit www.kennychesney.com. This story was written by Grace Davis, davis206@b..., and edited by Kathleen Penton, kat709@Y.... [http://www.datelinealabama.com/article/2004/02/02/5230_arts_art.php3]

Back To Top

Chesney samples a party buffet on 'Sun' By Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY Kenny Chesney serves the same function for today's country fans that Jimmy Buffett did for a generation of party-happy rockers. On When the Sun Goes Down (**½), Chesney often parrots Buffett's themes of sun-soaked, sand-covered good times. Kenny Chesney has always liked a good song about kicking back. (You can't see it but he's barefoot. Take our word for it.) By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY As he has incorporated more reggae rhythms and Caribbean instrumentation, these songs have almost become their own subgenre. Outta Here holds the promise of escape to a tropical climate. Anything But Mine basks in the carnival glow of a vacation romance's last night. He sings these songs so leisurely that he could be delivering them from a cabana chair. The album is not one long beachfront binge. There's the sweet though predictable There Goes My Life, about an unexpected teenage pregnancy. But even in the song that taps into the album's deepest emotions, Chesney describes recovery from a difficult love affair with drinking metaphors: Bein' Drunk's a Lot Like Lovin' You. Balancing such songs with celebrations of nostalgia and spring-break revelry has made Chesney a lot of fans. They will flock to When the Sun Goes Down— it has everything they've come to love from Chesney and more of it. [http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2004-02-02-chesney_x.htm]

Back To Top

Chesney Flies High With New Album and Tour (Part 2 of 2) Beer, Wings and Fries on the Hooters Jet Provide Sure Sign of Success By: Craig Shelburne As one of the leading touring acts of 2003 -- in any genre -- Kenny Chesney wants to outdo himself this year. And he'll leave the yelling to his audience when his Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love tour with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley kicks off March 17 in Houston. In the second segment of this two-part interview with CMT.com, Chesney talks about keeping his throat healthy, a concert that changed his life and the moment he knew he had arrived. Chesney's new album, When the Sun Goes Down, arrived in stores on Tuesday (Feb. 3). CMT: What can fans expect from your tour this year? Chesney: I'm kind of contradicting myself cause I'm not really a big, huge believer in production. I think the music has to come first, and I think that's one thing that the band and I have tried -- to really be sure that does happen. But our set's going to be a little bigger this year. (laughing) It's gonna rival anything that's out there in rock 'n' roll and definitely country. We took blueprints from some of the best sets we've seen, and it's grown a little bit since last year. But still we want to try to keep the music first. It's crazy because it is an intimate set, but then again, it's a lot bigger set. I just feel like that every time somebody comes to see you, they should get something a little different. I try real hard. I work real hard. I stay up nights thinking of ways to make my show great and to make somebody come to that show. Maybe there's somebody out there that's never been to a concert before, ever, or maybe that they don't know my music that well, or maybe they've heard a song or two on the radio. But when they come and they experience our live show -- it's become less of a show and more of an experience in the past couple years -- hopefully they're gonna leave there saying, "I'd like to tell all my friends and come back next time." You spend a lot of time concentrating on eating right and keeping your body healthy, but last year, a lot of stars were losing their voice, or they had surgery or they hurt their throats. How do you keep your voice healthy? I've been lucky. I don't abuse my body too much. I don't abuse my voice that much. I've learned that talking a whole lot is worse for you than singing, so when I'm off stage, I don't really talk that much. It sounds crazy, but I try not to. You've got to, in doing what I do, but you learn not to yell through the bus, and you just try to be very respectful of your voice because it is your bread and butter. I've noticed, when I read your interviews, that you mention Conway Twitty a lot. He doesn't get mentioned a lot by the current folks out there. What is it about his music that appeals to you? Conway Twitty, to me, was one of the best song guys in the world. Anything he sang, you can tell that he meant it. Whether he did or not, you can tell that he's gonna make somebody believe he did. And I just loved his heart, and I loved that he put all of his body and heart and soul into every note. I sing a lot about women, and I took that from the Conway Twitty page of country music. I just love his music. I always have. Conway played with George Jones and Merle Haggard in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thanksgiving night a long time ago, and I went with my family. Conway came on stage and they said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Conway Twitty." And that's all they did. The band didn't play or anything. It was really odd to see a band not play the opening number. Conway just walks on stage, looks at the crowd, grabs the microphone and goes, "Hello Darlin'." And the place goes crazy. And I thought, "That's what I want to do." (laughing) Conway Twitty pretty much performed up until the day he died. Are you planning on singing for years to come or maybe retiring early? I don't know. I've got a lot of dreams left. Who knows when that time comes? Maybe I will be doing it until the day I die. Hopefully it's not tomorrow. I can definitely see myself doing this for a long time, but I can also see myself cutting back, too, and spending some more time in the islands and trying to find a balance and a happy medium in the next 10 years. I've still got a lot of drive in me and got a lot of things I want to accomplish in country music and in music in general, and I'm not ready to give up the spotlight just yet. The guys and I are loving what we're getting to do out there on the road, and we're loving the fact that people not only hear our songs on the radio, but they're passionate enough about it to fill an arena and experience it with us. That doesn't get to happen to everybody, so I'm not ready to give it up just yet. What are your dreams that you haven't accomplished yet? I would like to do a whole stadium tour. One of my favorite albums ever was an old Elvis Presley double live album (laughing), and I'd love to do that. I had that album forever. I'd love to be able to do one of those. Just stuff. I've got more songs in me. I've got more songs I want to write. I've got more songs I want to sing. I just want to keep trying to find songs that people … can live with and have fun with and cry with and love with and get pissed off with, you know? I hear you talking about your music, but do you have any ambition for a sitcom or movie role? You know, isn't it funny though, why is it when somebody gets a record deal it automatically gives them a license to act? I don't know. That's a very good question. I don't understand it. All of a sudden, "You know what? I want to be an actor." Some people can do it. No doubt about it, my two best friends in the music business, Tim and Faith, I've seen what they've done and they did a great job. I think Dwight Yoakam is a great actor. I think Reba is doing a hell of a job. But certain people [say], "Well, I'm going to be on Walker Texas Ranger." You know that's bull. I'm just now getting to where I can do this music thing the way I want to. To go do a movie takes six months out of your life. I'm not saying I'll never do something, but I don't aspire to be an actor. I don't want to be in a sitcom. I want to sing country music. I want to get up there on stage, and I want to do what I do best. I don't want to be an actor. I'm not saying I'm never going to do a part in something, because some people are really good at it and I might be, too. I don't know. I've just never tried it and never wanted to. But I couldn't ever read for a part. If somebody gave me a part I could do it with a lot of heart, and I believe I could do it well, but I'm not the kind of guy who can go read for a part and be judged in front of other people. I don't want to do that at all. How about hosting? Hosting what? Hosting an awards show? Oh, I could do that, yeah, no doubt about it. I'd like to do that one day. I mean it takes a lot of time, but yeah, that'd be cool. I could do that. You've got a new record and a new tour. Anything else big this year coming up? That pretty much does it. We're all excited to get back out there. Last year was the best year of our life on the road, and it was a bittersweet feeling when we had to let it go in Louisville, Ky., last year on the last show of the year. We were all worn out and wanted to get off the road. It was tough that last night. What was tough about it? You live with those guys and all your crew guys and everybody in your whole organization. You wake up with those people. They're the first faces you see every morning when you get off the bus. You don't even do that with your family, so they become your family in a sense. It was tough letting everybody go. But as soon as the tour was over, we went down to the islands. I rented the corporate Hooters jet and took my whole organization down to the islands. (laughing) It was a lot of fun. We had Hooters girls giving us Corona and curly fries at 8 o'clock in the morning. (laughing) That's when you knew you made it. Yeah, somebody said that. They asked me, "When did you first realize that you made it?" I said, "Well, we were somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and my whole organization was sitting on a Hooters corporate jet with Hooters girls as airplane stewardesses, and they were giving us Corona and hot wings and curly fries at 9:30 in the morning, and nobody had been asleep since the night before in Louisville, and I went, 'This is pretty cool.'" [http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1484790/20040203/chesney_kenny.jhtml ?headlines=true]

Back To Top

I'll Have What He's Having -- Kenny Chesney hit Phoenix for the moorning shows yesterday in support of his just released album, When The Sun Goes Down, and found close to a hundred fans waiting in the dark for autographs. Chesney happily obliged, before making his way into the station. But when he came out, there were still too many fans to sign for everyone and make his flight to the next city. He thanked them for their support, said he had to go and that he hoped they liked his new record. "We got in the car and headed for Subway, so I could get something to eat -- and would you believe a bunch of those fans got in their cars, and actually chased us?," Chesney laughs. "They were right behind us, followed us to the Subway and all poured out. They got in line, ordered what we were having -- and even let us have their stamps on our Subway cards." To answer your question: 6" wheat double turkey with tomatoes, lettuce and extra jalapenos.

Back To Top

Make Mine Frozen

As the fervor around When The Sun Goes Down heats up, radio stations across the country are catching the Guitars, Tiki Bars, Margaritas & Senoritas fever. With two stops in Salt Lake City, Chesney -- whose opening day's sales figure on Sun was over 163,000 pieces -- woke up to tiki bars in both control rooms. "It was awesome, man," reports the man whose lead single '"There Goes My Life" spent 7 weeks at #1 and the title track duet with Unkle Kracker had a 1000+ spincrease on its way from 40* to 23*. "Both stations were decked out. We're talking palm trees, twinkle lights, even sand on the floor. For a moment or two, you could almost feel like you're down in the islands, which is a pretty cool thing to wake up to when you're in the middle of something like this." Chesney's been hitting two-and-three cities a day this, often in some pretty Arctic feeling temperatures. For the man who feels most alive in the islands, though, the work isn't the travel, the people, the interviews or the autographs -- it's the weather! "It's cold here, I can tell ya that!" laughs Kenny Chesney, en route to Seattle, Washington. "And if I've ever seen people more in need of a margarita or a pina colada and some tropical beaches, it was these folks... 'cause MAN, this is WINTER out here." Look for Chesney on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" tomorrow night (Feb 6). Then again on "Good Morning America" Feb 18 and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" on Feb 19. And his Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour kicks off March 17 at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. posted: 2/05/2004

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney Sounds Off On The Grammys (LAUNCH, 02/07/2004 7:00 AM) By LAUNCH Radio Networks Sunday night's (February 8) Grammy Awards boast quite a lineup of performers and presenters, but only a very small number represent the country music genre. Big name acts like Kenny Chesney say its not fair. "Well, I've never been nominated or ever sang on it, so ...," Chesney said with a laugh. "Well, if you were watching the show? Not really. I think it comes and goes in cycles, but I do think there could definitely be a few more country performances on there." Chesney adds that some of the non-country acts tapped to perform on the Grammys have hardly made a mark on the industry. "Some of the people that are out there that are singing on the show are still living off the advance from the record label," Chesney said. "You know, they're not selling any tickets, but they think it's gonna make good TV, and that's not necessarily what people want to see--what the real fans out there want to see. It's different every year though. I think sometimes country gets respected a little more than other years, and some years it don't." Chesney's 2003 Margaritas And Senoritas tour was the highest-grossing country tour, and third highest across all genres. His new album, titled When The Sun Goes Down, was released on Tuesday (February 3). The Grammy Awards air live on CBS-TV at 8:00 P.M. ET. For more news at LAUNCH, click here. [http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=216804]

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney is quite happy swaying to beach breezes February 8, 2004 By MARIO TARRADELL / The Dallas Morning News Kenny Chesney continues to project the beach bum image he started in earnest on 2002's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems and then brought back for last year's holiday effort, All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan. Every photo in the CD booklet of When the Sun Goes Down features the Tennessee native in a tropical setting showing off his buff body. Call him country's modern-day Jimmy Buffett. Musically, When the Sun Goes Down follows the same path as No Shoes – songs about life and all its transitions interspersed with a few fun ditties about sun, blue skies and clear ocean waters. Overall, No Shoes was better, buoyed by the terrific singles "Young," "A Lot of Things Different" and "The Good Stuff." It was an album brimming with his new artistic maturity. Kenny Chesney has cultivated a beach bum persona, but he doesn't shy away from wading into deep waters songwise on When the Sun Goes Down. Still, there's no denying When the Sun Goes Down is solid. After just one listen, it's obvious Mr. Chesney remains comfortable in his own creative skin. He's found his tuneful groove, a smooth blend of country, pop, rock and a little island music, particularly on the fun title track, a duet with Uncle Kracker. Nothing traditional here, folks. But to his credit, nothing innocuous, either. For all his bare feet, tank tops and beachside persona, he gravitates to deep material. The ballad "There Goes My Life," already a No. 1 hit, paints a bittersweet picture of letting go as seen through the eyes of a parent watching a child venture out into the world. On the midtempo number "Some People Change," he tackles serious issues such as prejudices and drug addictions. During his own composition "Being Drunk's a Lot Like Loving You" he compares a hangover to a broken heart. When the Sun Goes Down reveals more of the songwriter within. Mr. Chesney got his first break in Nashville as a songwriter; he got a publishing deal before signing a recording contract. His best song remains "The Tin Man," which ended up on his little-heard first album, In My Wildest Dreams. Another original on Sun, "Old Blue Chair," serves as an autobiographical portrait of the artist today. He wrote the acoustic- tinged ballad about a "certain blue chair on a stretch of beach in the Caribbean" where he's sat and reflected on his life. Staring out at the ocean, Mr. Chesney finds his soulful center in the cascading waves. Those pictures of him surrounded by sand, trees and shorelines aren't just eye candy. This guy's brand of country comes from the tropics, not the ranch. [http://www.wvec.com]

Back To Top

Chesney's star rising Country star's latest album proves him savvy hitmaker Kenny Chesney releases `When the Sun Goes Down.' Posted on Sun, Feb. 08, 2004

WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN Kenny Chesney BNA No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, the album Kenny Chesney released in the spring of 2002, secured his place in Nashville's tight inner circle of bankable stars. It debuted at No. 1 on both the country and pop charts. It yielded five hit singles, most notably cautionary tale The Good Stuff, which enjoyed a long stay at the top of the country charts. And it won him grudging respect from seasoned country fans who had dismissed the singer as a shallow profiteer after he scored with lowbrow pop fare like You Had Me from Hello and How Forever Feels. More than anything, the album helped Chesney prove he had real potential as a singer and songwriter. The reflective A Lot of Things Different and the poignant I Can't Go There, a tune he wrote with Skip Ewing, remain his finest moments in a recording studio. When the Sun Goes Down, Chesney's new release, sticks close to the winning No Shoes formula. It's loaded with potential hits that draw a good deal of inspiration from '70s and '80s rock tunes, and it again includes a couple of tracks that offer hints -- but, alas, only hints -- that Chesney, 35, is aspiring to something more than big numbers and heavy airplay. The singer's voice isn't particularly strong or distinctive, but he connects surprisingly well with listeners when he allows its rough edges to show and when he digs deep to uncover some honest emotion. He achieves that this time out on three tracks: There Goes My Life, the radio-friendly ballad about teen fatherhood that has already hit No. 1 on the country singles charts; Old Blue Chair, the sparse, acoustic disc-closer that finds Chesney musing quietly about the power of solitude and introspection; and the hard-hitting Being Drunk's a Lot Like Loving You, a Chesney-Ewing waltz about hard drinking and heartache that qualifies as the album's only honest-to- gosh country moment. Less pleasing but still vaguely satisfying are I Go Back, a John Mellencamp-inspired ode to faded youth; Anything but Mine, a not-bad knockoff of a Springsteen tune; and the Jimmy Buffett-like title song, which Chesney performs as a duet with Uncle Kracker (who will tour with Chesney this summer). The latter, a feel-good, let's-party- in-the-sun piece of fluff, has big summer hit written all over it. The rest of the album is filled largely with by-the-numbers Nashville fare, including the depressingly perky Outta Here and the self- righteous Some People Change. The former could double as a commercial jingle for Carnival Cruise Lines, while the latter, which tackles racism and alcoholism, sounds too much like one of Martina McBride's tiresome do-gooder anthems. On When the Sun Goes Down, Chesney again proves that he's a savvy hitmaker and smart businessman, and he again hints that there's more to him as an artist than we've yet seen or heard. We'll keep listening for more details. -- Greg Crawford Detroit Free Press [http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/living/7898330.htm]

Back To Top

Bonfires, Hula Girls, Palm Trees... -- When Kenny Chesney and duet partner Uncle Kracker, needed somewhere suitably shabby, chic and fun to pitch their hammock and make a video for the title track of "When The Sun Goes Down," they headed for Miami's legendary Bohemian neighborhood known as "the Grove." "We had a blast," says Chesney with a laugh. "Uncle Kracker has the best vibe I've ever known. Any time you can spend time with him, he's just so kicked back, so funny, so gets it, you're gonna have a blast. And when you factor in Coconut Grove, the beach, hula girls, the Atlantic Ocean on a perfect day -- well, if you can find something wrong with that, you just don't know anything about living." Meanwhile, here in Topeka, the screen door's a bangin', the coffee's boilin' over and the wash needs a hangin' -- one wants a cookie and one wants a changin' -- and one's on the way. countrynation.com

Back To Top

"When The Sun Goes Down" Kenny & Unkle Kracker Kick Back

Immediate Release 10 Feb 2004 For More Information Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage Wes Vause for BNA Nashville VW Vans, Bonfires, Hula Girls, Palm Trees + A Whole Lotta Fun in New Clip Coconut Grove, Florida: Back in the day, everyone from Crosby, Stills and Nash to Led Zeppelin to Bob Marley hung out in Miami's legendary bohemian neighborhood known as "the Grove." For Kenny Chesney to kick it with his pal and duet partner Unkle Kracker, the laidback pair needed somewhere suitably shabby, chic and fun to pitch their hammock and make a video for the title track of When The Sun Goes Down, released last week and on track to be the #1 album in the U.S. in any genre this week. So when the setting called for sunset, Coconut Grove it was. "We had a blast," says Chesney with a broad, rolling laugh. "Unkle Kracker has the best vibe I've ever known. Any time you can spend time with him, he's just so kicked back, so funny, so gets it, you're gonna have a blast. And when you factor in Coconut Grove, the beach, hula girls, the Atlantic Ocean on a perfect day… Well, if you can find something wrong with that, you just don't know anything about living." Having just spent 7 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Country Singles Chart with "There Goes My Life," the gently undulating "When The Sun Goes Down" quantum leaps from 23* to 16* in its second "official" week on the charts. As When The Sun Goes Down hits stores -- and many outlets are reporting a difficult time keeping the eagerly anticipated title in stock -- Chesney fever is getting increasingly pitched. Again working with director Shaun Silva -- the man responsible for the CMT Flameworthy Video of the Year (their fan-voted equivalent of Entertainer of the Year) and Best Male Video "Young," as well as the behind-the- scenes documentary DVD "Roadcase," which has already sold in 5 figures off the fan site alone -- the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist wanted to capture the vibe of grooving after sunset anywhere there's a tropical drink, a tiki torch and some pretty girls ready to let their hair down. With deep color saturation, there's a richness to "When The Sun Goes Down" that lends an intensity to the visuals. In addition to the footage shot on location in Coconut Grove, there's live performance incorporated from the first leg of Chesney's now demi-infamous Keg In The Closet Tour -- designed to take the Luttrell, Tennessean's music to where his fans are. Though slightly low-lit, you can get the party- right-here attitude that made the college tour such a success for fans, band and the singer/songwriter. With four of When The Sun Goes Down's four songs written by the young man whose tour was the #3 ticket-seller behind Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band according to Pollstar, this promises to be Chesney's most personal record yet. Not only is there the romping celebration of frat house revelry "Keg In The Closet" and the reflective island living and dreaming "Old Blue Chair," Chesney balances heartache with his classic country waltz "Being Drunk's A Lot Like Loving You" and the songs-as-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives "I Go Back," which invokes John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane," the Steve Miller Band's "Rockin' Me" and Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young." And for those who can't wait for kick-off on the Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour, there's "Good Morning America" on Feb. 18 and "Conan O'Brien" on Feb. 19! ##############. [http://joesgarage615.com/CHESNEYkennycracker.htm]

Back To Top

CHESNEY ALBUM TOPS BILLBOARD POP AND COUNTRY CHARTS As Kenny Chesney's BNA album When The Sun Goes Down debuts at #1 on both Billboard's pop and country album sales charts, the first week sales establish a new milestone for the superstar, with an impressive 550,581 units sold. When The Sun Goes Down lands atop "The Billboard 200" and "Top Country Albums" charts for the issue dated February 21, and marks the highest February debut for a country artist since the inception of SoundScan. First week sales of When The Sun Goes Down are more than double that of Chesney's last album, the triple-Platinum No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, which released in April of 2002. The new album's debut single, "There Goes My Life," spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart, and holds the record for the highest country debut on SoundScan's Top Tracks chart (which tracks legal downloads) since the chart first launched in June 2003. "There Goes My Life" has also achieved the highest number of legitimate downloads in one week of any country song to date, according to SoundScan. Chesney's latest single, the title track, became his highest-debuting Billboard single ever, hitting the chart at #40 after only four days of airplay and rising to #17 in just three short weeks. "The people at RLG have believed in me and my music for many years, so it's wonderful to see what we've been able to build as a team," says Chesney. "There's no substitute for faith, especially when it comes to building a career... and that has certainly proven itself over and over in my years on the label." CHESNEY SIGHTINGS In what will amount to a victory lap of sorts, Chesney will perform material from his fastest-selling album ever before millions on national television next week when he appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" on February 18, then returns to NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" for a visit February 19. [http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html]

Back To Top

Kenny Goes Cruzan

Nashville, TN: For Kenny Chesney, music isn't just something to sling on the radio -- it's a reflection of his heart, life and music. And when it comes to creating a marriage of a product and the thing that's most important to him, it needs to be something that feels consistent with who he is. So when it comes time to roll-out the guitars, the tiki bars and that whole lotta love, Kenny Chesney actually found a partner that he was already dancing with. The Guitars, Tiki Bars & Whole Lotta Love Tour -- the sequel to last year's Pollstar #3 Overall Ticket Seller behind Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour -- is being brought to you by Cruzan Rum. "When I'm down in the Carribean," says the man whose When The Sun Goes Down is the #1 album on Billboard's all genre Top 200 and Country Album Sales charts, "that's the rum the locals drink. And you know what they say about when in Rome? Well, when in the islands, I started drinking what the people who lived there drink -- and that was Cruzan! "It goes to show that people who're raised on something just know. It's like home cookin' in Luttrell, I guess, because when you wanna kick back and just groove, there's nothing like a drink that's made with Cruzan rum -- and everybody down there knows I know it." Indeed they do. When M'n'S alum and 1st leg tour mate keith urban hit the Virgin Islands to ring in the new year and have an erstwhile pirate Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love pre-game tour launch, the bar the guitar-slinging pair commandeered even whipped up a special drink in their honor. With the clinking of tall glasses holding the Cruzan Confusion concoction, a marriage was being made unseen and yet inevitable. "It's about the best drink ever… and keith and I had more than two, I can tell ya that!" says the island-hopping singer/songwriter of the commemorative cocktail. "And it's something we've both been enjoying once we got back to the continental U.S." Founded in 1760, the St. Croix distilled rum comes in many flavors. In addition to their hand crafted premium and estate bottled top shelves, the company also creates flavored and spiced rums for the kind of party drinks fans of Chesney's sunbaked music seem to gravitate to So for cohesiveness sake, Cruzan -- pronounced "cruisin'" -- is a match made in Heaven for the reigning ACM Top Male Vocalist. With a 15-minute sell-out in Grand Rapids this morning, a 45-minute sell-out in Lafayette, Louisiana yesterday, a 3 hour sell-out at Minneapolis' Excel Center and people camping out for tomorrow's onsales for the Tupelo and Chattanooga shows, this tour's even hotter than both "When The Sun Goes Down" -- leaping from 40-17* -- is on country radio AND the islands where Cruzan comes from. "If you gotta team up with somebody, it's always awesome when it's somebody you believe in. For us, this is something we really drink and we really enjoy. Cause like the song says 'when the sun goes down/ we'll be groovin'…" and nothing puts a groove on ya quite like Cruzan! So, this should make for a real kicked back, big fun kinda tour…" posted: 2/13/2004

Back To Top

Keg in the closet,a smile on his face By PETER COOPER Staff Writer On the road between college towns and hit songs, Kenny Chesney reflects on his rise to stardom ''They call me 'No Show Jones!' '' sang Kenny Chesney, just before walking out of an Oxford, Miss., hotel room and boarding a tour bus bound for Alabama. At that point, the Oxford thing had gotten too weird to stick around. Chesney was supposed to play a promotional gig at a bar called The Library in Oxford, home of the University of Mississippi, in a show intended to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club and spread the word about his When the Sun Goes Down album. But the club owner gave away most of the tickets, and college kids who'd waited in line were told tickets were sold out. Weeks later, Chesney had cause for celebration as When the Sun Goes Down opened at No. 1 on the Billboard pop album chart, selling more than 550,000 copies in its first seven days, but on that Wednesday afternoon there was just frustration. Chesney and tour manager David Farmer decided to get the heck out of Dodge. So it was from Oxford to Birmingham, Ala., to Auburn, Ala., with a quick stop at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Fulton, Miss., to replace the bus's busted blender. Another club show was scheduled for the next night in Auburn, and the multimillion-selling country artist rode on, stewed and took a few drinks to take the edge off the irritation and monotony. The bus rolled into Auburn, passing War Eagle Supper Club, where the sign read, ''Thu. — Kenny Chesney; Fri. — None the Weiser; Sat. — Splendid Chaos.'' Welcome to the big time: kind of like the small time. As the bus hummed in a hotel parking lot, Chesney was inside the vehicle, playing host. Wearing a sweatshirt, baggy sweatpants and a 'boggan on his head, he poured drinks for visitors, pulled out a gorgeous Martin guitar Jimmy Buffett had given him and sang a little. He plunked out a convincing version of country classic That's the Way Love Goes, then did an older song he'd written called Between Midnight and Daylight. It's a good song, though no one gave him much credit for that fact when he first released it in 1995. Back then, he had a largely unrequited passion for the music business. ''Even after my fourth album, in 1997, I could easily have gotten dropped from the label and ended up back at home, in East Tennessee,'' he said. ''Man, I don't know what I'd be doing now.'' He's better now, both professionally and artistically. On the album, Between Midnight and Daylight was well-written but not well- performed. Back then, he sang it like he was trying to get through it. These days, even when half-buzzed on the bus, he sings it like he means it. ''You listen to my first few records, and they don't even sound like me,'' he said. Soon, the bus' stereo system was pumping Randy Travis, Vern Gosdin, Earl Thomas Conley, Dean Dillon, George Jones and the other ballad- masters who had made their way onto a CD that Chesney burned. Then, some band members gathered around Chesney and sang Wait a Minute, a bluegrass ballad that Chesney learned to love on a college drive between Johnson City and Toronto, listening to the Seldom Scene's Old Train album. After the singing, Chesney was still keyed up. ''Let's make some calls,'' he said. ''How late is it?'' It was past 11 p.m., and neither Lyle Lovett nor Jeannie Seely were home. Soon, Vince Gill's cell phone was ringing back in Nashville. ''Vince, this is Kenny,'' went one side of the conversation. ''Kenny Chesney! We're out on the road, and we've been drinking, and we're calling you!'' Gill was nice about it, perhaps even humored and honored. And Chesney was onto the next thing: boarding a limo and heading to the War Eagle to surprise the kids who had waited all afternoon and evening to get some of the 326 tickets available for the next night's Kenny Chesney show. They stood in line to get vouchers that would allow them to buy $10 tickets at midnight. A local acoustic act at the Supper Club was quickly quieted, and Chesney took the tiny stage to shrieks and hollers. Instant bedlam. The crowd was almost entirely college kids, many of whom ignore much of what's on country radio. It's an audience — well, business folks in Nashville would call it a demographic — that Chesney reaches better than any other Music Row performer. For two hours on that Wednesday, with a goofy/tipsy smile, no sound check and no wardrobe change, that reach was stronger than ever. ''It's all about having a good time for him,'' shouted Auburn student Jana Ridley. ''He acts like he doesn't care, and that's how we are, too.'' In truth, he does care, but he knows when he's on a good roll. At the surprise War Eagle gig, he sang his own hits interspersed with stuff from Tom Petty and David Alan Coe and Steve Miller, and he even played drums for a little bit. ''The longer we play, the drunker we get,'' he announced. ''We were supposed to play Oxford tonight, but that club owner (ticked) us off, so we came down here. Hey, this is our night off. Tomorrow we're gonna give you guys a real show.'' Time to grow up ''Man, it's not like that every night out here,'' Chesney assured, rubbing his forehead Thursday afternoon. ''I mean, we'll have fun tonight, too. Let's just don't get drunk and call Vince Gill.'' Hangover or no (and the answer must be ''yes''), Chesney had woken that morning and, like every morning, worked out unmercifully. His singing is not the only thing he's changed over the years: Early videos show Chesney with scrawnier arms and a bit of a belly. Now, a brutal training routine and a diet that's heavy on protein shakes and salmon have given him an athlete's body. His workouts, like everything else in Chesney's life, are purposeful. Chesney and Farmer, his childhood friend-turned-tour-manager, like to point out that his career has been one of no plateaus and no real dips. At every impediment, Chesney has jutted out his chin and fought. A short attention span sort, Chesney grew up playing sports, had lots of hobbies and slid by in school the best he could, until he picked up a guitar his sophomore year at East Tennessee State University. Sixteen years later, he's forgotten much of the material he needed to get his degree in advertising, but he's holding onto the guitar. ''In college, we were country boys hanging out and chasing girls,'' he said. ''A lot of us, including me, didn't give an ounce of thought about what we were going to do with our life.'' Chesney wrote about that era in Keg in the Closet, one of four songs he wrote for the new album. ''In the song, it says, 'We didn't think it could ever end,' '' he said. ''When it did end . . . wow, it was scary. Life's not a keg party. Sometimes it looks like a keg party out here, but it's not.'' Armed with some songs, including a rough version of what became The Tin Man, Chesney moved to Nashville and hoped for the best. His family thought he'd probably try music for a couple of years, get it out of his system and come home. Instead, he toughed it out, endured a not-great record deal with Capricorn and signed with BNA Records. His early albums were not great, and when he really broke through to mainstream country stardom, it was with the novelty song She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy. Lots of people were turned off, thinking him arrogant and trifling. ''One reason people thought I was cocky is because I was scared to death,'' he said. ''I was watching CMT the other day and saw someone's video and I started dissing the guy for looking the way he looked. And then I caught myself and went, 'Man, I used to do the same thing.' Sometimes I would try so hard that it would come across as cocky, but it was really insecurity coming through. It used to (tick) me off when people would say, 'He's cocky,' but now I see they were kind of right.'' ''He's cocky'' was only one of the charges leveled against Chesney. A more damaging accusation was, ''He's not talented.'' ''First impressions last in the music business,'' he said. ''You make a record and you put some songs on there that people absolutely hate, and they think you're cocky on TV and they don't understand why you even have a record deal. They say, 'Can't sing, can't write, can't, can't, can't.' '' Chesney switches to the third person and back, recounting his rise to fame at first as if watching it from afar and then describing the sting that can accompany triumph. ''Then all of a sudden, the next year that old boy makes an OK record and sells some of them. Next year, he's gotten into shape. Next year, he cuts a really, really good record. But sometimes people refuse to see how hard you work, and when you mention somebody's name like mine . . . boom, we're going back to the front, to that first impression. ''That's the perception, and that's what (stinks). The thing people get wrong about me is that they think I'm still that guy that they heard at the start. But we've worked our (tails) off, and had a great time doing it.'' Supply and demands That great time was interrupted late last summer by creeping fatigue and heightened pressures. His stadium show in Knoxville was successful, but Chesney's hands-on roll in the concert itself and in the editing and mixing of the surrounding television special took something out of him. He was trying to write, trying to perform on a tour that would have been exhausting even without the Neyland Stadium show, trying to smile through pre-show meet-and-greets and trying to prepare for a new album. Fame, too, started to feel like something of a nuisance. Before No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems came out, Chesney told record-company brass, ''You guys need to get ready, 'cause this'll be big. We're going to do over 200,000 units the first week.'' He knew his Greatest Hits album had sold 80,000 in the first week, and he was sure that his fan base had tripled since then. The fans who were coming out included some staunch, core country fans, but they also included a percentage of high school and college students who hadn't been approached in recent years by other artists. When other country performers talk about ''the kids,'' they're talking about their children. When Chesney talks about ''the kids,'' he means his fans. ''These kids aren't just into country,'' he said. ''I can play the Violent Femmes or Hank Williams Jr.'s A Country Boy Can Survive or one of my songs, and they'll sing along to all of it. That's how I grew up listening to music, and a lot of my audience is listening to music just like I did, and just like I do.'' No Shoes sold more than 200,000 copies the first week, Chesney ascended to contemporary country stardom and the momentum continued through the tour. But success breeds attention and expectations, and attention and expectations breed hassles and fatigue. ''I felt really burnt,'' he said. ''When the tour was over, I headed down to the islands, to a boat I have in the Caribbean. I was going to take a two-month vacation, and didn't want to hear any music besides Bob Marley. For some reason, when I got down there, I pulled out this old guitar that I had in a closet, started playing it a little bit and all of a sudden began what is one of the most creative times of my life.'' In the next month, Chesney worked on three of the four self-penned songs that appear on When the Sun Goes Down. One of the three, I Go Back — a rumination on music's role in Chesney's formative years — was finished and recorded without the help of a co-writer. The other solo-written song on the album was also written in the Caribbean: Old Blue Chair found Chesney writing about the ocean-side chair where he's contemplated the changes in his life and his career. ''Songwriting has always been important to me, but I'd always used co- writing as a crutch,'' he said. ''When I wrote I Go Back and, especially, Old Blue Chair, I felt for the first time like a singer- songwriter. I was able to paint a picture of a moment and place in my life and do it in a way that means something to people. And for the first time in my life I was able to do that by myself.'' No games, just music When the interview was over that afternoon, Chesney walked off the bus to sign autographs for the crowd that had gathered in the parking lot. He took a car back to the War Eagle for a brief photo shoot, then he got back on the bus to take a nap. Hours later, two Auburn students sat patiently in a red sports car, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chesney when he reappeared. One of them, Ashlee Cherry, couldn't get into the War Eagle show because she was a few weeks shy of her 21st birthday. ''I don't listen to a lot of country,'' she said. ''Just Kenny Chesney. He's the only one I care about.'' She and her friend had been told Chesney was napping, so they played their radio very quietly to keep from disturbing him. They were less than 50 yards away from his bus's back lounge, but the distance must have seemed much farther. Later that night, the kids at the War Eagle were as close as they could get to Chesney. Anyone seeking an illustration of the singer's connection with young fans needs only to watch as those fans pressed against the stage, raised beer bottles in celebration and took hundreds of splotchy photos with those cell phones that double as cameras. Industry insiders' first impressions mattered for nothing on this night: Few in attendance at the show could name one Nashville record- company president, publicist or critic, and when Chesney remarked after the show that ''I feel I don't have anything to hide anymore,'' it's because his career is at a point where Music Row shell games don't compare to the carnival he directs out on the road. The Supper Club gig was, as Chesney had promised, a real show, with proper sound equipment and stage-top sobriety. It was also, as are most Chesney shows, an exercise in musical cross-pollination, where A Country Boy Can Survive mixed easily with Chesney's Young, John Cougar Mellencamp's Hurts So Good and Dobie Gray's Drift Away, a song recently recorded by Uncle Kracker. On the latter, the sing-along atmosphere grew into a barroom affirmation: ''Thanks for the joy that you've given me,'' Chesney sang, and the crowd hollered back, ''I want you to know I believe in your song.'' The Uncle Kracker connection Kenny Chesney's connection with young audiences is underscored by his musical connection with rap-rocker Uncle Kracker, his singing partner on new single When the Sun Goes Down. Born Matthew Schafer, Kracker made it big with hits Follow Me and Drift Away, and he played an essential role in writing the songs that brought his close friend, Kid Rock, to radio prominence. (Kracker had a hand in writing Cowboy, Only God Knows Why and numerous other Kid Rock songs; he even joined Kid Rock on stage for a duet of Drift Away at Kid's Nashville concert last weekend). ''We're getting to be good friends,'' Chesney said. ''He's one of the funniest people I've ever met. I mean, he traveled on the bus with us when we were playing shows together in Florida, and me and everybody in the band laughed so hard it hurt.'' Neither Kracker nor Chesney wrote When the Sun Goes Down — it was written by Nashville songwriter Brett James — but the two blend easily on the single, singing about ''sleeping off the night before'' so the party can begin again at sundown. Kracker and Chesney plan to tour together this summer, from June to September, in an unlikely pairing of country and rock ticket-sellers. http://tennessean.com/entertainment/music/archives/04/02/46896605.shtm l?Element_ID=46896605

Back To Top

He's Bad, He's Nationwide

Kenny Chesney Graces The Cover of USA Weekend March 21 Nashville, TN: Kenny Chesney's on a roll. Having debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 and Country Album charts with When The Sun Goes Down scanning over 550,000 in its first week -- and in excess of 900,000 in two - and seeing "There Goes My Life," the project's heart- tugging lead single, spend 7 weeks at #1 on their Country Singles chart, even as his Unkle Kracker duet title track hits #11 in three weeks, the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist is taking the country by storm… And the good folks at USA Weekend, the nationally-produced Sunday supplement for many major American daily newspapers, has taken notice. Kenny Chesney's been tapped to be on the cover of USA Weekend's March 21st edition -- talking about the Caribbean, the road, the music, his dreams and his commitment to making it all come true. Written by noted critic Alanna Nash and shot by rock fave Tony Baker, it's one more way the man from Luttrell, Tennessee, who's just wrapped a whirlwind 3-city-a-day promo tour with stops at "Good Morning America," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and :Jimmy Kimmel," finds himself in living rooms coast-to-coast. "When you're from a small town, like I was raised in, USA Weekend is one of those Sunday morning things you just remember… you know, that magazine thing that's a lot slicker than your paper," says Chesney. "And they'd always have these interesting people who were doing incredible things: actors, scientists, astronauts, whatever. I'm not sure they're getting their money's worth with me - 'cause I'm really pretty simple: the beach, the ocean, a couple cocktails, my friends, maybe some football on Sunday afternoon -- but I sure was flattered to be asked." The USA Weekend cover coincides with the opening weekend of Chesney's Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour, which kicks off March 17 in Houston. The follow up to the #3 ticket-selling tour of 2003 -- behind Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band -- will get a sweet send-off as "Roadcase: The Movie," which takes you behind the scenes on the Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour, premieres in 32 Regal Cinemas nationwide and features two live acoustic performances by Chesney March 8. "There's a lot going on with us right now," says the man being brought to you by the pride of St. Croix Cruzan Rum. "And thank heavens for places like USA Weekend, which lets me be in a lot of places at the same time. I'm trying to keep up with the fans, to keep giving'em stuff they're gonna respond to and see themselves in -- and this is one more way for me to get them inside where this music on When The Sun Goes Down came from." Rolling Stone wrote "Chesney knows honky tonk. But he doesn't fret over the tradition. He's too real for that." in a review subheadlined "Nashville's own Jimmy Buffett gets a little deep," while The Los Angeles Times offered, "he sticks to a heart-on-sleeve directness that makes his a characteristically American voice" and The Tennessean opined, "This is Chesney's finest set of songs…('Being Drunk's A Lot Like Lovin' You)'s melody, delivery and content harken to days when Vern Gosdin, Keith Whitley and others sang real-deal country about drinking and hurting." With four of When The Sun Goes Down's songs written by Chesney, this is his most personal record yet. Not only is there the romping celebration of frat house revelry (and Southeastern Conference college bar tour inspiring) "Keg In The Closet" and the reflective island living and dreaming "Old Blue Chair," Chesney balances heartache with his classic country waltz "Being Drunk's A Lot Like Loving You" and the songs-as-the- soundtrack-of-our-lives "I Go Back," which invokes John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane," the Steve Miller Band's "Rockin' Me" and Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young" as it touchstones of his own life like lightning bugs in mayonnaise jar with holes punched in the lid. And on March 21, you can read all about it the evolution from "giving it a good football try" to soul searching superstar in USA Weekend.

Back To Top

KENNY CHESNEY GETS COOL GIFT FROM SPEEDWAGON MAN Seems on last year's Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour, Kenny Chesney shared the story of losing his virginity to the REO Speedwagon song "Keep On Lovin' You." The result was that Kenny received a gold record for REO Speedwagon's monstser High Infidelity, which contained the pop and rock ballad. "There was the sleeve and the actual 45 inside the frame, too… and it was an 12 inch gold record like they used to give out," says Kenny, "And he'd inscribed it to me saying, 'We both got lucky with this one…'"I about died laughing." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

Kenny in Top 50 on Rolling Stones Rich List

Chicks, Keith, Twain in Rolling Stone Rich List Thu. February 26.2004 6:00 PM EST The Dixie Chicks, Toby Keith and Shania Twain are among the 10 musicians who made the most money in 2003, according to Rolling Stone. The Chicks raked in $39.8 million to rank fourth on the list. Keith came in sixth, with $38.7 million, followed by Twain, in eighth place with $36.1 million. Other country artists in the Top 50 include Kenny Chesney ($21.9 million), Tim McGraw ($16.7 million) and Brooks & Dunn ($13.6 million). The Rolling Stones topped the list with $84.1 million, slightly ahead of Bruce Springsteen's $81.7 million. The Eagles nested in third place with $62.9 million. http://www.cmt.com/news/news_in_brief/

Back To Top

REBA'S HELP TO KENNY CHESNEY

Reba McEntire has been a huge star that she's mentored both female and male artists, including Kenny Chesney once asked her advice. "He was tired, "Reba remembers. "He was having to do so many things and he said, 'What one thing can you tell me that I can cut out?'" "And I was very honest with him, very blunt, and he took my advice (to learn to say no), and the next time I saw him he said "You saved my life!" He said "I would have had to cancel shows 'cause I was so tired."

Back To Top

TWO SURPRISE GUESTS AT RLG SHOW During Brad Paisley's performance at the RLG show aboard the General Jackson, Alison Krauss came out to perform a duet wtih Paisley that will be released as a single and and the two received a standing ovation from the crowd. ALSO, KENNY CHESNEY CLOSED THE SHOW and during his set he surprised the crowd by bringing his "When The Sun Goes Down," duet partner UNCLE KRACKER on stage to perform the hit with him. AND, Kenny and Kracker were presented plaques commemorating the Double Platinum two million selling status of his WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN CD. OTHER PERFORMERS INCLUDED LONESTAR who received plaques on stage celebrating the double platinum sales of their Greatest Hits package. AND GRIGGS performed with invited guitarist, Randy Scruggs. SARA EVANS performed, as did CAROLYN DAWN JOHNSON, JEFF BATES and CLAY WALKER. http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

Take A Slow Boat To Heavy Metal…

For Immediate Release 5 March 2004 For More Information Holly Gleason for Joe's Garage Wes Vause for BNA Nashville Take A Slow Boat To Heavy Metal… Kenny Chesney Gets His Double Platinum When The Sun Goes Down On The Annual RLG Country Radio Seminar Boat Show Nashville, TN: Kenny Chesney had just finished performing the title track of When The Sun Goes Down, his #1 Billboard all-genre Top 200 Albums debut, with surprise guest Unkle Kracker, when the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist got another surprise guest: RCA Label Group Chairman Joe Galante. With a twinkle in his eye, the charismatic RLG head looked at the capacity crowd on the General Jackson, then at Chesney and said, "What took us 12 months to do last time (with No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems) has only taken us 30 days to do this time." With that pronouncement, Galante handed both Chesney and Unkle Kracker with RIAA Double Platinum plaques certifying two million copies sold. Having debuted with 550,581 sales and maintaining steadily over the past month, When The Sun Goes Down has been sitting on top of the Country Albums chart since hitting the streets one month ago. For the pride of Luttrell, Tennessee, it's been building a grass roots, word-of-mouth fanbase over the past decade that's the secret. "Country radio has been there with us for the long haul," says Chesney. "And the fans. We were never the flashiest, the most likely to or the coolest… But we'd get out there and play, have as much fun as we could onstage -- make sure that the people coming were having fun, too. That was the plan -- just keep hitting 'em with it, and throwing back what they gave us double. And slowly, while maybe nobody on Music Row was looking, people kept coming back and bringing their friends. "It was no masterplan. It was about music, and love, and life and having a good time. If you give people a mirror to see themselves in, and they like what they see and how they feel - it's amazing what can happen! And a team like Joe Galante, Butch Waugh, Tom Baldricca, all of BNA, and the folks who work with me doesn't hurt." With over 15 million albums sold -- including triple platinum certifications for No Shoes and Greatest Hits and a platinum seasonal album with All I Want For Christmas (Is A Real Good Tan) -- Chesney's way of life is obviously reflective of an awful lot of people. His Margaritas'n'Senoritas 2003 Tour was the 3rd largest ticket-seller behind no less than Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band -- and tickets for this year's Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love Tour -- which is brought to you by Cruzan Rum and kicks off March 17 in Houston -- have been selling out in most markets in less than an hour. Taking a break from rehearsals for the tour, Chesney gears up for his "A&E Live By Request," hosted by E! Entertainment Television's Jules Asner live from Nashville tomorrow night (March 6), and then onto a very intimate acoustic performance live via satellite to 32 markets across the nation for the Regal Cinemas "One Night Only" big theater premiere of "Roadcase: The Movie" Monday March 8. "We've got a lot going on because of the fans," says the hard- working superstar. "People ask me how it feels to be in this position -- and truly the coolest part of it (aside from being onstage, which defies words) is being able to think about what you'd like to do next, then be able to do it. What more or else can we do for the fans… Like the 'Roadcase: The Movie' deal. I'd rented a theater so the people who worked with us on the tour could see the DVD in that kind of environment; we wanted to let the fans have that experience, too. Now we can actually make some phone calls - and make that work! To me, THAT'S cool..." ############# http://joesgarage615.com/CHESNEYmetal.htm

Back To Top

Jeannie Seely's Opry Surprise… Unkle Kracker's Opry Debut!

Nashville, TN: Country legend Jeannie Seely stood on the Opry stage last, talking about a phone call she'd received late one night from "the hottest, sexiest young guy out there right now." With a knowing smile, she continued, with perfect comic timing that was dryer than a martini, "The good news was that he was calling to tell me he loved me, the bad news was… I wasn't home to take the call! But when we finally talked, I told him he needed to come to the Opry -- and tell me in person." And as the woman who won the 1966 Grammy for "Don't Touch Me" was talking, a baseball capped young man walked out of the wings with his head down. As the crowd held its breath, Kenny Chesney -- of the 15- million records sold, #3 ticket-selling Margaritas'n'Senoritas tour and reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist -- slid an arm around Seely's waist, flashed that gleaming smile and said into the mic, "Jeannie, I love you... and the Opry." Still unsure about the guy in the low slung linen pants and baseball t-shirt, the applause was scattered, but the anticipation could be cut with a knife. And then it hit, "Oh, my name's Kenny Chesney -- and I figured as long as I'm here, you might let me play a song." With that, the crowd turned itself inside out. And as his band plugged in, the pride of Luttrell, Tennessee turned to the wings and said, "I've got a new album and new single out called When The Sun Goes Down -- and I'd like to bring my friend Unkle Kracker out to sing it with me… if that's alright with you." With the gentle undulations of the tropi-country "When The Sun Goes Down" lapping out over the Opry audience, Detroit's pop/rap/r&b fuser Unkle Kracker rolled into the circle of wood that came from the original Opry home: the Ryman Auditorium. Beaming with a cockeyed grin at his pal, it was a whole new kind of Opry surprise -- as worlds collided, musical definitions melted and the reverence for one of America's greatest musical institutions exponentiated. "I was a whole different kind of nervous," Unkle Kracker said in that gravelly mud and fishing tackle voice of his. "You just know it's like something you've never done before -- and it's kind of a rush once you get out there, you know." Laughing, Chesney seconded his friend's emotion. "We go all kinds of places… but when you walk out onto the Opry stage, there's just this rush of energy that surges up at you. You can feel the spirits of all those great artists who've stood there before you, the ones who paved the way, broke the rules, really made this music what it is. It's a little scary, but it's also -- I don't know -- it makes you feel like you're part of something much bigger." Chesney, a hard country-grounded songwriter who has grafted the power of rock to what he does, was at the Grand Ole Opry's Studio A for his "A&E Live By Request" broadcast Saturday night -- and decided to make the unannounced visit. As he said happily on his bus later of the unscheduled appearance, "the night wouldn't have been complete to be so close and to not get to bask in that" -- thereby maintaining the rich tradition of musical surprises that the Opry's known for. Having debuted at #1 on Billboard's all-genre Top 200 Albums and maintaining residency at #1 on the Country Albums chart, Chesney's gearing up for what will be a big day. With covers slated for March 21 USA Weekend and the current Country Music Today, the man who opened 2004 with a 7 week run at #1 with "There Goes My Life" is gearing up for the first leg of the Cruzan Rum sponsored Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lotta Love Tour, which kicks off March 17 in Houston. posted: 3/07/2004

Back To Top

CHESNEY SALES PAST 15 MILLION

With his current When The Sun Goes Down CD now double-Platinum, Kenny Chesney's career sales total swells past 15 million. At CRS last week he was quick to credit the support of country radio. "Country radio has been there with us for the long haul," says Chesney. "And the fans. We were never the flashiest, the most likely to or the coolest… But we'd get out there and play, have as much fun as we could onstage -- make sure that the people coming were having fun, too. That was the plan -- just keep hitting 'em with it, and throwing back what they gave us double. And slowly, while maybe nobody on Music Row was looking, people kept coming back and bringing their friends. ALSO, KENNY admits there was no big plan behind his tenaciouis rise, just his common sense approach to please his fans and work hard. "It was no master plan. It was about music, and love, and life and having a good time. If you give people a mirror to see themselves in, and they like what they see and how they feel - it's amazing what can happen! And a team like Joe Galante, Butch Waugh, Tom Baldrica, all of BNA, and the folks who work with me doesn't hurt." ONE MORE CHESNEY NOTE…TONIGHT'S the night that Kenny sends out an intimate acoustic performance live via satellite to 32 markets across the nation for the Regal Cinemas "One Night Only" big theater premiere of "Roadcase: The Movie."

Back To Top

CHESNEY AND MANNING SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE Anybody who knows country music and football, knows also that both Kenny Chesney and pro quarterback, Peyton Manning, are both hard worker success stories. Kenny agrees that he and his friend share the same philosophy. "We talk a lot about staying focused and working hard and one thing Peyton said to me I love, he says, 'Kenny, when you go the extra mile you won't see too many (other) people there, just work hard.' And, it's so true." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

CHESNEY PLEDGES TO KEEP TICKET PRICES REASONABLE Last year, Pollstar Magazine named Kenny Chesney the most affordable major touring artist. Kenny says that's no accident since he planned on pricing his tickets low enough to make sure his core fans can afford to come and see him. "We could charge a lot more money," Kenny admits. "But, I'm pretty sure who my audience is, I see their faces and I know who's partying hours before the gates open in the parking lots and those guys can't afford a 75 dollar ticket, I don't know if I'd pay that to see Elvis if he came back." He adds, "There are a lot of kids out there, in college, just out of college, and I don't know if when I got out of college I could've paid 75 dollars to hear somebody play. We've got to make our money, we'll make it, but I just want everybody to be able to come and experience our music, and be able to bring their girlfriend and be able to buy a t-shirt. But, 150 dollars to bring two people to a show is a lot of money, I don't care what you do for a living." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

KENNY SHARES "A WHOLE LOTTA LOVE" WITH HIS FANS For Kenny Chesney fans across the country, the wait for his 2004 "Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour" is finally over today. One of the most-talked-about events on the country music calendar for 2004, Kenny and company will kick things off with a performance tonight in Houston, at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (aka RodeoHouston). Kenny's calling this year's dates the "Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour," and if the buzz is right – there's a whole lotta fun to look forward to. Kenny and his band have been rehearsing for weeks for the shows, which are complete with a whole new set he can't wait for fans to see. The testosterone-charged bill is also guaranteed to make the ladies swoon, with Keith Urban (who toured with Kenny last year on the "Margaritas `n' Senoritas" tour) and newcomer Dierks Bentley. For the second leg, which launches in June, Rascal Flatts and Uncle Kracker take over from Dierks and Keith. Kenny says, "It's gonna be great to get some new music to pick from – and this record really suits what we're trying to do live. So aside from some well-chosen surprises, people can expect the songs they love and some songs I know they're going to." Here's a look at where Kenny's tour will stop in the first couple of weeks; log on to KennyChesney.com for the complete itinerary: · Tomorrow Lafayette, Louisiana · Friday Tupelo, Mississippi · Saturday Biloxi, Mississippi · March 25th Dayton, Ohio · March 26th Lexington, Kentucky · March 27th Chattanooga, Tennessee · March 28th Champaign, Illinois posted: 3/17/2004 http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htm? inc=news&nws_id=3208&CID=24e49e0f4dbdd42076ad69a93a09346b

Back To Top

Kenny Chesney Transforms Into Star

After a slow rise to fame, country's chart-topper finds his place in the music world United Press International Crystal Caviness Kenny Chesney Photo credit: Peter Nash Country music's Kenny Chesney has a hard act to follow — his own. At the end of 2003, Pollstar magazine named Chesney, who is set to leave March 17 on a 69-city U.S. tour, as the No. 3 concert ticket seller behind veteran rock acts Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band. Toss in a couple of hit singles, being named the Academy of Country Music's male artist of the year and three million records sold of his recent album, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem, and that makes the last year a pretty good one for the 30-something east Tennessee native. For Chesney, however, 2003 may have been the dress rehearsal to the BNA Records artist's biggest year of his career. At least the first quarter of 2004 is shaping up that way. Chesney rode the New Year in at the top of the charts with "There Goes My Life," the first single from his new album, When The Sun Goes Down. Less than one month after the album came out in early February, Chesney had sold 2 million copies, has another hit on his hands with the title track, a duet with, surprisingly, Kid Rock protege Uncle Kracker, and tickets to his new tour, "Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love," are selling out faster than you can say "beach party." "Every year it gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger," Chesney told United Press International recently from BNA Records' Nashville office. While Chesney may sound a bit awestruck with the current success, the singer also is quick to point out the work that it has taken to get to this place. "I'm starting my 10th year on the road," Chesney said, "and any artist can tell you that 10 years is a long time to be rolling down the interstate." Chesney pulled into Nashville from Luttrell, Tenn., in the early 1990s, a fresh-faced college graduate, with little more than a marketing degree from East Tennessee University and a head full of dreams of making it big in the country music business. When his first album on the now-defunct Capricorn Records came out, Chesney sounded and looked like a dozen or so other wannabes, donning a cowboy hat and singing the flavor of the month. After one album, Chesney signed with BNA Records, but the vanilla look and sound remained. For the rest of the '90s, Chesney kept putting out records, racking up sporadic hits, such as "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," "I Lost It" and "You Had Me From Hello," while also attempting to break away from the pack. "Like a lot of other singers, I wanted to be George Strait," Chesney said of his early aspirations. "As much as I love George Strait, I don't want to be him (anymore). I didn't turn into George Strait. I turned into Kenny Chesney and found my place in the world and in country music." Chesney's transformation occurred in 2002, with the release of No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem. The title and accompanying CD cover photo of a buff and tan Chesney was a tribute to the life he had found and loved living in the Caribbean when he wasn't on the road. The music was a tribute to a new maturity and depth Chesney had found as a person and artist. "Before I did the No Shoes record, to be honest with you, I was making records, putting a bunch of songs on there that I felt like could get played on the radio. Three years passed between the Greatest Hits record and the No Shoes record and I went through a lot in my life in those three years. "Looking back, it was a time of coming of age and maturing ... I think I finally figured out how to make a record mean something and at the same time record some songs that could get played on the radio. It's a fine line, it really is, and I think I stepped right in the middle of it." These days, Chesney is more likely jumping rather than stepping as the energetic entertainer focuses on his new tour and unlikely alliances with musicians such as rowdy rock rapper Kid Rock. "He really gets country music and he understands where it should be, that pocket, so it's not as odd as it sounds," Chesney has said about songwriting with Kid Rock. Chesney and Kid Rock recorded a duet of "Luckenbach, Texas" for a Waylon Jennings tribute album a couple of years ago. Putting Kracker on the summer leg of his current tour is another surprise partnership, but Chesney, again, claims it isn't a stretch to have Kracker on the bill. "I'm out there on the road every night and I see somebody over here on the left with a Dave Matthews shirt on and I see somebody over here with a Kid Rock shirt on ... We've got a great diverse audience." Chesney's plans to entertain his fans of all ages and backgrounds is about one thing, having a good time, and Chesney promises the new tour will surpass last year's top-selling party. So far, the tour is in line to do just that, with the early shows easily selling out. Tickets for Moline, Ill.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Sioux City, Iowa, were gone in 25 minutes, 20 minutes and half a day, respectively. Venues in Minneapolis; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; and Chattanooga, Tenn.; have searched for ways to add seats after fast sellouts. Chesney, who said he has been involved with every aspect of the tour, from what's played on the video screens to the number of stage lights, is ready for the show to begin. "It's going to rival any rock group that's ever hit the stage," he said. "It's going to be far from unplugged. It's going to be very plugged in," he said, laughing. "If it's too loud, you're too old." © 2004 by United Press International. http://www.grammy.com/features/2004/0315_kennychesney.aspx

Back To Top

Chesney draws largest crowd in history of rodeo- 70,688 !

March 18, 2004, 12:16AM - For his fourth consecutive year to play RodeoHouston, million-selling country star Kenny Chesney rocked and gently rolled a record-setting Reliant Stadium audience with his smooth, adult-friendly brand of pop-and rock-flavored contemporary country music. Launching his 2004 tour for his new album, the No. 1-charting When the Sun Goes Down, Chesney played to a paid audience of 70,668 -- a record for RodeoHouston. That beat last year's Go Tejano Day audience of 70,405, when Intocable and Los Tres Amigos performed. Wednesday night, Chesney played an engaging array of catchy, buoyant songs as well as the tuneful, tender ballads which first fueled his career as a novice out of Nashville. Known for his deep baritone voice, congenial spirit, anthemic ballads and adult-pop crossover appeals, Chesney was an assured front man for a guitar-heavy seven-member band with as much rock leanings as country. While staying true to his country roots, the Tennessee native fits snugly into the mature, mainstream balladry of such '70s singer- songwriters as James Taylor and Dave Loggins, whose Please Come to Boston he's covered. Now one decade into his recording career, Chesney, 35, has evolved from a handsome country "hat" act in the vein of Alan Jackson or Tim McGraw into an amiable cross between the country-rock punch of Garth Brooks and the laid-back island serenity of Jimmy Buffett. Following an appearance by former Apollo flight director Gene Kranz and a stirring video-screen NASA tribute, Chesney took the stage to a surprising recording of AC/DC's grinding rock classic You Shook Me All Night Long, punctuated by rafter-shaking roars from the nearly packed house. He opened with the nostalgic rock bounce of his hit 2002 single Young, followed by such jaunty country-rock favorites as Big Star from the same year. Slinging a blue electric guitar off a shoulder bared by a sleeveless green T-shirt, the black-hatted Chesney joined his three guitarists at center stage to play rhythm for its rowdy, sustained finish. From his new disc, Chesney turned to I Go Back, followed by rich vocal harmonies and acoustic flourishes for the soaring balladry of Back Where I Come From, a tribute to his rural roots origins in the same proud down-home mode of John Mellencamp's Small Town. Video-screen images underscored the lyrics about simple, honest pleasures and folksy familial gatherings. After serenading in fine form with his soulful No. 1 hit The Good Stuff, Chesney eased back into country-rock with Don't Happen Twice, a new recording for his 2000 Greatest Hits package, followed by a return to balladry with exquisite new love song There Goes My Life and another visit to lilting, island-inspired romp with When the Sun Goes Down and the fiddle-laced How Forever Feels. After an evening of back-busting rodeo rides, it felt pretty good. By BRUCE WESTBROOK Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/2455140

Back To Top
Kenny Chesney Hits #1 "When The Sun Goes Down" and SROs Opening Guitars, Tiki Bars Weekend Nashville, TN: When Kenny Chesney got news that he'd shattered Texas icon George Strait's Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo record, he was a bit blown away. But when you compound that with three more SRO concerts -- where literally there wasn't room for one more lei -- on the Lafayette, Louisiana, Tupelo and Biloxi stops of his Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot Of Love Tour and seeing the Unkle Kracker duet title track to his already double platinum When The Sun Goes Down hit #1 on both Billboard and Radio & Records' Country Singles charts in a mere 9 weeks, well, as the commercial goes, "Life is good, indeed." "All I know," says the kicked-back singer/songwriter from Luttrell, Tennessee, "is we've always had the best crowds out there -- and what we're experiencing this time is a whole new deal! Maybe it's that the stage is less distracting, so we're able to really interact with each other and the crowd. Maybe it's that the lights really cast the mood -- cause these lights are pretty cool. Or maybe, they can tell how glad we all are to be back out here with them." The euphoria obviously extends to country radio where "When The Sun Goes Down" becomes Kenny's fastest #1 at Billboard -- and ties his fastest #1 at Radio & Records, making back-to-back chart-toppers for the first two singles from his #1 Billboard all-genre Top 200 Albums debut When The Sun Goes Down. Chesney's "There Goes My Life" spent 7 weeks at the top of the country charts earlier this year, making his run at #1 almost as long as the time it took his poignant slice-of- fate song to get there. "It's a fun song," concedes the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist of his latest #1. "There's plenty of stuff to think about on this record, but with summer coming, I thought about what I'd want to hear coming out of my car radio. With the spring thaw, it just seems like it's time to get out of the house and let loose a little bit -- and to me, this is the right song at the right time." Chesney is living proof timing is everything. Do what you do, stay between the lines, keep challenging yourself to be more -- and never stop believing in the dream. With that simple equation, even a slight statured guy from a small town in East Tennessee who loved George Jones, George Strait and Keith Whitley can grow up to make (literally) and break (figuratively) records, while having a lot of fun along the way. As Rolling Stone wrote of the man they deemed "Nashville's Jimmy Buffett," "Chesney knows honky tonk. But he doesn't fret over the tradition. He's too real for that," The Los Angeles Times raved, "he sticks to a heart-on-the-sleeve directness that makes his a characteristically American voice" and The Nashville Scene proclaimed, "Kenny Chesney emerges as the unlikely heir to Garth Brooks," it's been a year of the story catching up to the artist. And for those who don't have tickets to the first leg of the Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot Of Love Tour, you can catch the 15-million- seller and his latest #1 March 30th on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." posted: 3/24/2004http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htm? inc=news&nws_id=3261&CID=9d8a2c479f61a4f7a95354fcb02cc3e4

Back To Top

KENNY CHESNEY AMAZED AT ALL THE "STUFF" HE TAKES ON TOUR For years, as an opening act, Kenny Chesney was amazed at all the stuff that goes on the road for a major tour he was part of. Now, he's even more impressed with all the "stuff" he has out on the road for his "Guitars, Tiki Bars and Whole Lotta Love Tour." "At one time I had a bus and a trailer that carried everything we owned including two boxes of t-shirts it took a week for us to sell," Chesney recalls. "Last year I woke up and looked out there and counted nine buses, then I looked over here and counted about 9 or 10 semi trucks…and you know we've got a lot of stuff out here and a lot of people to put up the kind of show we're doing now. We went from 90 moving lights last year to 300 this year and the set is bigger with big wrap around screens and stuff. And it takes a lot of people to set that up and transport it." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

Immortals Issue of Rolling Stone Features Full Page Spread Lower East Side: With a double-platinum in 30 days #1 Billboard Top 200 debut with When The Sun Goes Down, Kenny Chesney knows his days of wondering how the Soundscan are are over. But that doesn't mean the downhome good ole boy would ever put himself amongst the ranks of "The Immortals." Leave that to rock Bible Rolling Stone, who tapped the singer/songwriter from Luttrell, Tennessee, for their photo spread celebrating the great covers of the last 30 years as part of their 50th anniversary of rock & roll edition. "It was originally supposed to be me and Unkle Kracker, but… well, Matt was a little under the weather that day," says Chesney with a laugh, "so it ended up being me going further south on Manhattan island than I had a notion anyone could get to. And in the end, they had us on some little street, with all these different kinds of people wandering through -- it's a side of New York I guarantee most country fans never knew existed or will probably ever see." The cover the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist reprised was Lou Reed's 1988 "The Rolling Stone Interview" cover shot -- in an alley in lower Greenwich Village. For the Martin Schoeller-shot spread -- on an exceedingly frosty day in February -- Chesney wears a ring t-shirt, his signature black cowboy hat and jeans, so that the picture makes sense for right now. "The photographer was sooooo smart," says the man who spent 7 weeks at #1 with "There Goes My Life" and hit #1 again a mere 9 weeks later with his Unkle Kracker duet "When The Sun Goes Down" gratefully. "Everybody was standing on this narrow little street, shivering in big coats, blowing on their hands -- but Martin had a space heater with some air conditioning tubing to blow hot air on me… I don't know if we'd've been able to get the shot or not otherwise -- 'cause (even with the heater) it was still pretty damn cold when the wind blew." Cold weather or not, Chesney's burning it up out on the Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot of Love Tour -- where they've been bumper to bumper and lei-to-lei since breaking George Strait's Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo record March 17. Hitting the road with former tourmate keith urban and newcomer Dierks Bentley, the man nominated for Entertainer, Top Male Vocalist and Song of the Year at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards and Video, Male and Hottest Video of the Year at CMT's Flameworthy Awards has found an even more intense reaction from the fans. "When the tour ended last year, I didn't think it could get any better, stronger or more intense," says the man who's sold in excess of 15 million albums. "And just when I was sure it couldn't be any more -- WHAM! -- here comes this year's crowds! They've been insane, and me and the band, we're loving every last moment of it." Hailed by Rolling Stone, who wrote "Nashville's own Jimmy Buffett gets a little deep. But he doesn't fret over the tradition. He's too real for that," The Boston Globe offered Kenny's "dealing with tougher realities than he ever has" and The Los Angeles Times proffered Chesney "sticks to a heart-on-the-sleeve directness that makes his a characteristically American voice." And that's just the beginning. Check out Rolling Stone's "The Immortals" issue -- and see a country boy languishing in the heart of New York City. posted: 4/05/2004 http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htminc=news&nws_id=3327&CID=a6b0ab6b fd8b0ab279e2173a1ad63d57

Back To Top

Life on the Road With Kenny Chesney He Talks Career Building, Basketball and Breaking Strait's Attendance Record By: CMT Radio When his Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love tour recently rolled into Lexington, Ky., for another sold-out show, Kenny Chesney visited with journalists to talk about the tour, his fans and life on the road. Courtesy of CMT Radio, here's an excerpt from that conversation prior to the show at Rupp Arena: You're No. 1 on both the singles charts and the albums charts. You're selling out arenas. Can you explain this success? No, I can't explain it. I really can't put my finger on it. I just know that people are coming to our shows and having a great time. That's basically the way we've approached it the past four or five years. We didn't wake up this morning, and all this just happened to us. It's been building and building and building for the past four or five years, and now we're waking up going "Wow, we have, you know, 20,000 people in Rupp Arena." It's really cool, you know? (laughs) I can't put my finger on it. I do know that when I go out on stage tonight, just like last night and just like the last couple of years, I'll be able to see a bunch of people that are not just listening to the songs on the radio, but they're connecting with the music, and they're being passionate about the music, about the band, about the atmosphere that our shows have. They're having a great time from the moment they leave their house to the moment they get back. That's what has built what we're experiencing right now. The audience gets very close to your stage. Why is that important to you? When I first started in the business, I played all the clubs, and that's the most intimate you can get really, just having all these people up in your face. We're just playing in a lot bigger clubs these days, and it's a really neat feeling to see all those people out there having a great time. If I can touch the guy up there in row X and make him feel as special as the guy in the very first row. ... If I can make that guy up there go, "God, this concert is so cool." … [If] the interaction that I've had from the guy in the first row to the last row is the same, it's worth it. It's hard to put my finger on it when I'm up there on stage, because I don't ... turn into this other guy, but in a way I do. I'm not the same Kenny as you're gonna see sittin' right here on this bus. I'm a different person for a couple of hours. I'm this guy that people see on TV, and really, I'm just a guy out there playing basketball. (laughs). How much do you get to goof off on the road? It's not really goofing off, but we take this basketball thing pretty seriously. We played best of seven today, played a best of seven series yesterday and the day before. Yesterday, my team won four games out of three, and today we got killed. We got swept today -- four games to nothing. But that's what we do. I get up every morning, and I go work out, and I go run, and I come back and I eat lunch. I do a few interviews, and then we play basketball until about 5 o'clock, and I take a shower and eat and lay down and take a little nap. Now all of a sudden, it's time to do meet and greet. Time to do a show again. Then all of a sudden, it's the last night of the tour. (laughs) I swear I do it every single day the same way. ... There's one thing I love about what I do: There's no two days that are alike. But then again, every day's the same, but no two days are alike. It's kind of crazy that way. ... We find different ways to goof off, you know, and you never know what that day's going to bring. You recently broke George Strait's attendance record at the Houston Rodeo. Was that something that you ever imagined happening in your career? Never. No, not at all. We've played the rodeo the past three years and had really good crowds, and this year was really different. I mean, it was really loud in there for us. You could tell when we were on stage that my life had changed a little bit as far as those people were concerned. We looked all the way to the very top of that football stadium, and there wasn't an empty seat to be seen in there. That's the first time that we'd had that view. ... And after it was over they said, "Well, you broke George Strait's attendance record at the Houston Rodeo. You know, in the whole history of the rodeo, you have the biggest crowd ever." (laughs) And I went, "Wow." ... Those are things that you don't think about. You don't think that would ever happen to you, especially when you first start and you're just wanting to get your records played. And you just want somebody to hear them, at first. What have fans done to show their dedication to you? Well, the tattoos, that's pretty big. You know that's your life. (laughs) I don't know if I would pay to have a face of anybody's on my body. ... I've had a lot of people come up to me and tell me they've named their kid after me. That's kind of different, for them to feel that passionate about you to name their kid after you. I can't tell you how many people have come by and brought one of their girls and said, "My girl's name is Chesney." That's pretty neat. I was in Texas one time -- I may have told this story before -- but people do these crazy things. She said, "Will you sign my tattoo?" I said, "Well, sure, I'll sign your tattoo," and she pulled her pants down, and her whole ass was a tattoo of the state of Texas. (laughs) We learn something every day about people, don't we? Anyway, I still love it. (laughs) That's the damn truth though, I swear. http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1486238/20040407/chesney_kenny.jhtml? headlines=true

Back To Top

Younger Than Yesterday He may be Peter Pan with a real good tan, but Kenny Chesney is maturing as a songwriter, revealing more of himself in his music, and drawing crowds to his concerts that rival those of rock icons Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews. Since our last visit with him in 2003, Kenny has dominated the charts and continues to gain respect from his peers. He's weathered professional criticism and personal heartbreak, all the while retaining his youthful optimism and confidence. And, yes, he still believes in love. by Kay West Sharp-eyed Kenny Chesney fans have seen that chair before: a sway- backed, old-fashioned wicker, painted sky-blue, "weathered by sun and well-oiled hands," on the back cover of No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. A deeply tanned Kenny – wearing black pants with cuffs rolled to his knees, a black muscle tee and a black hat – is sunk deeply into the chair, planted in the sand a few feet from white- tipped blue waters. The chair also serves as home base for the singer in his video for the same song: its curved base in the surf in the opening shot, and silhouetted against the brilliant hues of sun setting on the same beach in the closing shot. It's the type of chair found on cozy front porches and sweeping verandas all over the South. This particular chair somehow made it to the islands, where it has served its sun-and-surf loving owner well as a place to party, to rest, to seek answers, to find peace of mind. But its significance did not reveal itself to Kenny while he was in its salty, sandy embrace. It was in back in landlocked Nashville, 500 miles from the nearest beach, that the chair became inspiration for the poignant, lilting song that closes his new album, When the Sun Goes Down. "I was at home, going through all that stuff that piles up, and I found a bunch of pictures," he says. "I kept coming across pictures of me in that blue chair. There were so many of them over time. It occurred to me how much time I had spent in that chair. Just sitting, thinking, reading books, writing songs. One New Year's Eve, after my fiancée and I had broken up, I pulled the chair out to the water and plopped down in that chair with a big cup of Malibu rum and Diet Coke. It was biggie-sized. I drank that whole thing and passed out in the chair, my head back. When I woke up, the cup was between my legs, and I was covered with about a million mosquito bites. I let go of her in that chair. So, when I was back in Nashville, looking at those pictures, I remembered that night, and I sat down on the edge of my bed and wrote that song in about four hours." While the chair serves as a touchstone for events in Kenny's life, the song represents something equally meaningful to the artist: his growth as a songwriter. He wrote four of the cuts on When the Sun Goes Down. Besides "Old Blue Chair," he also penned "I Go Back," "Keg in a Closet," and "Being Drunk's a Lot Like Lovin' You." The first two were solo flights, without cowriters. "I'm still learning as a songwriter," he says. "This is the first time I've recorded anything I've written by myself. Having cowriters can sort of be like having a crutch or an excuse. You can pass the emotion off on someone else. For the first time in my life, I feel comfortable as myself, comfortable enough to say something about myself." Laying the groundwork for his seventh album for RCA, Kenny has been saying something about himself all day long to more than a half-dozen members of the media. He is slightly reticent, and a little bit wary, not exactly comfortable in the role of interview subject. Think of a young boy squirming under interrogation by a grownup, wanting only to get it over with so he can go outside to play. On this frigid afternoon in the dead of winter, in a corner of a dark saloon in Nashville that serves massive burgers the lean, mean singing machine won't touch, Kenny, 35, looks as if he's dressed to go play in the sand: faded, worn-thin blue jeans, a tight, short-sleeved T-shirt molded to the pecs of steel he works daily with a personal trainer, an Auburn University cap with the bill tugged down low over his eyes, his skin still browned from his last visit to his beloved islands. You get the sense that Kenny Chesney has permanent tan lines. His only concession to the season is a pair of shoes. He admits a passionate aversion to cold weather. "I love living my life in flip- flops," he says with a laugh. "I met a guy in the islands a while ago [who] told me he hadn't worn a pair of shoes in three years! I thought, `Man, that's the life!' " http://www.cmt.com/countrymusictoday/magazine/pages/feature01.htm

Back To Top

Chesney's Merchandise Truck Destroyed Mon. April 19.2004 4:30 PM EDT A truck carrying Kenny Chesney's tour merchandise was destroyed by fire early Saturday morning (April 17), after it was struck by a car driving the wrong way on an interstate on-ramp near Little Rock, Ark. The driver of the car collided with the fuel tank of the truck, but both drivers escaped serious injury. More than $1.5 million worth of merchandise was lost in the fire. Chesney said, "The way those things go up -- and this one went pretty fast -- you only have a small window of time to get out. And the person driving the other car went to the hospital, and he's been released. Everyone's shook up, and it sure reminds you to take nothing for granted ý but the main thing is, even though we lost all the merch and the Gator we run it around on, everybody's getting returned to their families in one piece." http://www.cmt.com/news/news_in_brief/

Back To Top

Multi-Platinum Cowboy Scores Hottest, Male Videos @ CMT Fan Awards Nashville, TN: It may've poured rain on the Red Carpet, but nothing could put out Kenny Chesney's fire at the 2004 CMT Flameworthy Awards. With fans signing onto country.com to vote, the triple double platinum on his way to triple triple platinum country superstar picked up both the Hottest Video and Male Video of the Year Awards for the clips for "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" and the 7-week #1 "There Goes My Life." "We don't do this for the awards, although the recognition's always appreciated," Chesney acknowledged before walking into the press room. "Me and the band, we do this for the fans... So, with this being a fan-voted award, obviously, it's important to me because they're the ones signing on and voting. I look at it like it's kind of their way of letting us know they're feeling what we're sending them." Having debuted for the 2nd time at #1 on Billboard's all-genre Top 200 -- with first week sales of almost 600,000 -- with When The Sun Goes Down and watching tickets disappear on his sold-out Guitars, Tiki Bars & A Whole Lot of Love Tour -- where the 20,000+ tickets at Atlanta's Hi Fi Buys Amphitheatre were gone in 600 seconds! -- Kenny Chesney's got plenty of indication that his brand of country'n'Caribbean is connecting in a big way. Indeed, his second single from Sun, the Uncle Kracker duet title track is now in its 5th week at #1 after taking only 9 weeks to arrive at the top of the Country Singles chart. "I beat Joe Don's butt," Chesney said with a laugh, referring to Rascal Flatts' video featuring Joe Don Rooney's naked posterior. "Now if you wanna talk about really giving you perspective, that would have to be it!"Sean Silva directed both the "Where The Boys Are"- feeling clip that captured Chesney and pals romping around the waters, watering holes and beaches of the Caribbean and the heart- tugging "There Goes My Life," which illuminates the way seemingly life-ending things turn out to be life-making gifts. Showing two different sides of the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male Vocalist, the breadth of Chesney's soul seems to resonate with his fans. "In both cases, Sean got inside the song and built the videos out," says the Luttrell, Tennessean. "He knew that -- to me -- 'No Shoes' was more than a kickback kinda song, it's really the way I try to live my life... when I'm not on the road or in the studio, what you see in that video is exactly who I am! And Sean recognized that, and created almost a home movie of the me the fans never got to see. "With 'There Goes My Life,' it was obviously something I'd never lived... But we've all known people who've been through something they thought was the destruction of everything they'd worked for, only to look back and go, 'Wow!' For me, football was such an important part of growing up... It's that place where everything seems possible, even in a small town like where I'm from... and to be there, then to find out your dreams are gonna have to put away 'cause of your responsibility. Well, we wanted to show people what a blessing that 'mistake' can be. "And the beauty of Sean Silva -- he can get that tenderness on film just as easy as he can hang out in the islands with me and my buddies having fun. Both are pieces of me... and both are things Sean understands."Silva directed the 2002 Flameworthy Video of the Year "Young." He also directed "Roadcase: The Movie," the documentary behind the scenes of last year's Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour, which was just screened to acclaim at the Salt Lake City Film Festival and is now available on DVD. posted: 4/22/2004 http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htm?inc=news&nws_id=365

Back To Top

INSPIRED BY REBA'S FIRST VIDEO Kenny Chesney says that he was inspired by one of the first videos he ever saw, Reba's "Whoever's in New England." "I remember being in college, when I was first starting to write songs, and I was the kid in front of the TV watching awards shows...I was watching everything. I was listening to everything that I could possibly get my hands on. 'Whoever's in New England' was a song that I loved, and that was one of the first videos that I remember seeing. It got me excited about country music, along with a lot of the people. ... She means the world to country music, Reba does." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

Flame Worthy Male Video of the Year Kenny Chesney -- "There Goes My Life" "I was backstage and I heard Alan Jackson sing that song about what we do. That was an awesome song. I get up on my bus every morning, and I can't believe what I do. ... It's never been better for us out there on the road. So to everybody coming out there, again, thank you." -- Kenny Chesney Flame Worthy Hottest Video of the Year Kenny Chesney -- "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" "Thank y'all very much, I appreciate it. ... I've been doing this for a while, and I tell you we're having the time of our life out there on the road right now. I want to thank you guys for coming out and supporting us and being passionate about what we do." -- Kenny Chesney Back To Top

CHESNEY PRECIOUS METAL CERTIFICATIONS RISE Kenny Chesney's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems CD clicks up another notch on the Platinum scale, registering quadruple platinum for sales in excess of 4 million copies. PLUS, "Roadcase," his behind-the- scenes DVD of life on his Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour, has been certified both gold and platinum following its March 2004 release. "You can tell out on the road, the people are loving the songs from the last album just as much as ever," says the Luttrell, Tennessean with equal parts joy and awe. "The thing about new albums is you can't put all the songs into the show, because people haven't had a chance to really get to KNOW them… a lot of the fans, I think this year may be the first time they've really gotten a strong taste of No Shoes. Whatever. I love that record, and I'm glad to see people still loving it as much as I always have…" http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

"This Is A Glimpse Into My Life, My Passion, My Soul" Nashville, TN: When Kenny Chesney went to the islands following his belly-to-belly tour-closing performance at the Kentucky State Fair, he was wrung out and extremely grateful to the teen, 20- and 30- something people who'd helped make his Margaritas'n'Senoritas the #3 ticket-seller behind Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band. He recognized that they saw something of themselves in his music -- and he was frustrated in his attempts to find a song that would take that communion between the real lives of his fan and man who sings them their life out of his own life to the next level. "I hadn't found the song, but I knew what I wanted to say," says the soft-spoken Luttrell, Tennessean. "I knew how all the songs that really touched me had impacted my life… and no matter where I was, no matter how many years later, how those songs put me right back in the moment. I don't know if any of my songs will ever be that for the folks coming to my shows, but I wanted them to know that I know how important those songs that stamp your life can be…" Given that Chesney's music has been marked by the pivotal moments in people's lives -- first loves, first kisses, first losses, the thrill of recognizing the deepening of romance, the staying power of a relationship, the recognition of how sweet a moment can be and the general joy of living -- it's a pretty good chance that people are stringing their memories across a laundry line of the reigning Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Single of the Year winner's songs. With the 7 week #1 "There Goes My Life" -- about what seemed to be a dream-ending circumstance turning into life's greatest gift -- and the 6 week Unkle Kracker chart-topper "When The Sun Goes Down" -- celebrating the euphoria of kicked back celebration -- Chesney's nearly triple platinum When the Sun Goes Down continues reflecting people's lives back at them. "I Go Back" raises the bar. Because when he was floating in the ocean, fretting about not being able to find that song, he had a revelation: he could just write it himself. "I knew what I wanted to say… I knew all the memories that I wanted to capture and all the songs that kept those memories so alive in my heart and in my mind," Chesney concedes. "It's one of those things that people who don't have a soundtrack to their lives may not get, but those songs keep those moments right here. It's that scrapbook you can hear that makes music so important. "So I sat there, floating along…. Thinking about my life, about what's happened, about how young we all were, me and David (Farmer, Chesney's tour manager) and Tim Holt and the rest of our buddies -- and how much we lived and loved and dreamed. Then I started writing about all of it. I can honestly say: every note, every syllable, everything in that song was lived from top-to-bottom. So when people are hearing 'I Go Back,' they are truly getting a glimpse into my life, my passion, my soul. When I wrote that -- and it's rare for me to write alone cause I like the company of writing with other people - - that's when I knew this album had a ccenter, had something that defined it." When The Sun Goes Down has more than a center, it's like a typhoon -- debuting at #1 on Billboard's all-genre Top 200 with sales of almost 600,00 the first week, and maintaining residency at #1 on the Country Album charts ever since. With three Academy of Country Music nominations -- Entertainer, Top Male and Song -- to go with his two brand new CMT Flameworthy Awards for Hottest and Male Video of the Year, Chesney should feel pretty safe about opening his heart and his life to the fans -- thus far, the water's been mighty fine. posted: 5/11/2004 http://www.kennychesney.com/index.htm?inc=news&nws_id=3752

Back To Top

KENNY CHESNEY'S LOVE-HATE FEELINGS ABOUT AWARDS Kenny Chesney doesn't put winning awards down…but he has put them in perspective. "The thing that I love about awards is yeah, it does give your career a boost for a little bit, but I doubt if one of you people in here can tell me who won Single of the Year last year for the CMA, maybe. Maybe you could, I know I can't. HE ADDS – "So I don't know how much it means, I really don't know. Do I want to win them? Sure, everybody wants to win them. I'm competitive, I want to win them and I appreciate the nominations and yeah, I gotta tell you, I'd like to win Entertainer of the Year once, 10 times, whatever. But, if I won Entertainer of the Year, if I had to trade 20,000 people a night in an arena and every night we're playing to win Entertainer of the Year, I'd never do it, ever. I don't care if I ever win it if I have to give this up." http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

SUMMER'S COMIN', CHESNEY REVEALS CRUZAN CONFUSION RECIPE Whether you're a connoisseur of fine rums, or just a happy rummy, Kenny Chesney and Cruzan Rum are publishing the recipe for Kenny's now famous "Cruzan Confusion," tropical drink. It's in so many magazines now, Kenny says it's starting to bug his family. "It's gotten so bad my Momma and sister can't pick up a magazine in the beauty shop or a doctor's office without seeing it," laughs Chesney. "They've seen it in Jane and US and Vanity Fair, In Touch. Last year my Grandmother told me she was getting sick of me… Now my Mom and sister are telling me they're afraid to open a magazine for seeing it! I just laugh." Well, to save you a trip to the magazine rack, here's the recipe: To make an "official" Cruzan Confusion, you take 1 part Cruzan Coconut, 1 part Cruzan Mango, add pineapple juice and mix. OF COURSE, if you're going to drink one of these mixtures, be sure you're at home, or there's a designated driver if you're out partying. NOTE: Next chance to see Kenny Chesney live on TV is next Wednesday when he and Uncle Kracker sing "When the Sun Goes Down," at the ACM Awards show on CBS-TV. Plus Kracker and Rascal Flatts now join his current tour. http://www.countrystars.com/news/haislop/n-update.html

Back To Top

| Home | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2003-2 | 2004 | 2004-2 | Fun |

This is a fan site dedicated to country music star Kenny Chesney with news articles obtained from sites such as : Kenny's Official Site,BNA Records,CMT.com,Launch.com,Yahoo! News,Country Weekly.com,Tennessean.com,CDnow.com,knoxnews.com,Countrystars.com,etc.We have obtained these news articles in one place for easier viewing for the fans.No Copyright infringement is intended.We are not affiliated with any sites listed above, Kenny Chesney or Kenny Chesney.com in any way.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws