Post by lilmisschesney18 on Aug 9, 2007 7:37:02 GMT -5
Interview - Kenny Chesney, A Poet and A Pirate
Blogcritics Magazine
Written by tink
Published July 30, 2007
Country music singer/songwriter Kenny Chesney is hot. His latest single, “Never Wanted Nothing More,” is at the Number One spot on Billboard’s Country Top 100 chart, getting there faster than any of his other songs. It’s the first track to hit radio from his upcoming Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, which was slated to hit stores as a late fall release. Now it’s been pushed up to September 11th to accommodate the demands of his fans.
2006's The Road and The Radio tour saw him and his backup band playing in front of more people than any other act in any genre across the board. His Flip Flop Summer Tour 2007 has been selling out every date, usually within hours of tickets being available. On July 22, 2007, TV network CBS reran an updated version of a 60 Minutes piece from earlier this year, just to talk about how happening a ticket to one of his shows is. If you missed it on broadcast TV, you can go to the show's website and catch it on broadband. That’s pretty hot, right?
He’s also in heavy rotation in my CD players and has been for a while now. Surprised? Let me remind you of something that no self-respecting rocker can discount: the relationship that country music has had with rock 'n' roll throughout the decades. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr. and Johnny Cash are the epitome of the cross-over appeal of country to rock. It should go without saying that Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran were among the forefathers of the rockabilly movement, one that is still alive and kickin’ to this day. It’s easy to forget that in light of all the other buzz they’ve collectively garnered throughout the years.
Best known for their psychedelia, The Byrds were the first "long-haired" group to perform at Nashville’s premier music hall, the Grand Ole Opry, in 1968, months before the release of their country-tinged Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. Shortly thereafter members Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons left to start up the seminal country-rock band The Flying Burrito Brothers, precursors to groups like The Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top to name the top of that crop. Keith Richards waved the flag on Rolling Stones’ songs "Dead Flowers" and "Far Away Eyes," while Dylan recorded a full album, Nashville Skyline, as his homage to the genre. That's not even the top of the iceberg... but if I don't stop now this could turn into a whole book.
Having said all that, perhaps now you won’t think that my enthusiasm for Mr. Chesney is off base. After all, my bottom line has always been that I’m driven by music and how it affects me. Does it talk to me, call to me, make me think, make me tap my toes, tap into my emotions and maybe cause me to hum the occasional chorus or sing in the shower? I get all of that in spades when I listen to my ever-growing Kenny Chesney CD collection.
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem was the first one I picked up, and from the first drumbeats of its opening track, “Young,” I knew I was gonna be hooked. “A Lot of Things Different” is an emotional song that can readily bring a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. Then there’s fun songs too, like “Big Star,” full of sass and attitude.
Next for me came Be As You Are (Songs From An Old Blue Chair). The songs you’ll find here are about the pull of the islands for Mr. Chesney and he has a way of singing them that makes you want to embrace that lifestyle for yourself. Sometimes I swear I can taste that tang of sea air and the caress of an ocean breeze when I listen to this CD. The reggae pulse of “Guitars And Tiki Bars” is mighty powerful. So is the lilting guitar of “Island Boy.” “Magic,” with the unlikely combination of piano and steel drums, is a song that makes you want to grab your sweetie close and slow dance all night long. When I want to get out of where I am, this whole collection of songs takes me to a totally different head, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Unlike some compilations, both his Greatest Hits and LIVE: Live Those Songs Again are terrific packages that make it easy to catch up for those like me that are coming into Kenny Chesney’s music this late in his career. Any worthwhile greatest hit compilation should be a truncated view of an artist’s musical catalog and this one certainly fits that criteria for me. The live CD is well paced, with a good sprinkling of older and newer tunes. But that’s not the only reason why it was an education for me.
It also served as my first introduction to The Kenny Chesney Band, those talented guys that hit the road with him tour after tour. It’s with the help of Sean Paddock (background vocals, drums/percussion), Wyatt Beard (background vocals, keyboards), Jim Bob Gairrett (acoustic, slide and steel guitar), Clayton Mitchell (background vocals, electric guitar), Tim Hensley (background vocals, acoustic, electric and gut string guitar), Nick Hoffman (background vocals, electric guitar and fiddle), Steve Marshall (bass) and Melvin Fults (steel drums) that LIVE has the pro quality of a solid studio-produced release; all the while giving you the feeling that they are having the time of their life.
“Beer In Mexico,” Chesney’s first solely written Number One single and the fifth chart topper on 2005's The Road And The Radio, is definitely a rocker. In a recent press release, Kenny talked about how that song came to be. “There's a real fantasy element to writing a song at Sammy Hagar's pool,” laughs the man who rocked 1.3 million fans live last year.
“When you're growing up listening to him in your truck, you don't think one day you'll be sitting at his pool writing a song… and that's what happened! When he invited us down to play his birthday in Cabo (San Lucas), we were psyched - and it was a party, too! But there's a moment when you're just sitting there, thinking about all of it - your life, your craziest dreams, what you want… out of that a song can spill out. Everybody'd decided to go out on the water, fishing, but I could feel a song coming, so I stayed home. Right about now, I'm sure glad I did.”
Obviously, I’m not the only one who digs that song, and is sure glad that he did too.
That’s not the only killer tune on that CD, either. “In A Small Town” has a similar tone and feel reminiscent of John Mellencamp’s very best. The emotions of “You Save Me” couple with an urgent yet low-key guitar sound to put many a power ballad from the 80's hair band era to shame. My ultimate fave, hands down, is “Summertime.” I can’t resist the guitar licks or its lyrics and I find myself singing them day and night. There's a live version of it currently playing on his official website and it's even more infectious than the CD track.
But, it’s not just his music that calls to me. As I found myself listening to these CDs more and more, I realized that I liked what I learned about Mr. Chesney from the music he chooses to record. It’s more than just the tunes though. I started to do some research, watched videos and checked out his website. I read and re-read the liner notes to his live CD.
It’s right there in black and white. No blase attitude. No lip service about how his followers are important while his actions say otherwise. In those notes Kenny Chesney lays it on the line.
He talks about the transition of going from opening act to headliner status. Would the fan base that he’d been building up for five years follow him?
"And come they did...with their grills and their boom boxes, ice chests, inflatable pools, palm trees, tiki bars, and blenders. They showed up that very first night and they haven’t stopped since. In fact, I like to joke that sometimes it’s more fun out there in the parking lot than it is onstage. What the fans don’t realize is: we can hear you. Just about every show, starting from that first night in South Florida, we can hear those parking lot parties back where we are, and that really fires us up, makes us wanna rock even harder, and kicks us into gear, long before the lights go down.”
Recently I had a chance to talk to Kenny Chesney, and found out for myself just how strongly he feels about his legions of fans. In between talking about music, our talk always came back to his devotees.
To Kenny they are “People who have real lives that are not always fun or nice. People who have real jobs that barely pay the bills. People who have broken hearts that hurt. Dreams that seem out of reach. People just like me. That is who I am out here for, the fans.” As for all the hard work that he and the members of the Chesney team do? At the end of the day, it is worth it all?
“It isn't about ticket sales. I try to make people understand that. It is about the lives you touch and that touch yours, the smiles, the laughter; the fact that for two hours I have the chance to make you forget that your life outside the parking lot may very well be hard. But for this two hours, man life is great and there are no problems. And by the way shoes are optional.”
To my way of thinking, you can’t get much hotter than that.
So count me in with the slew of other fans waiting to hear what his Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates has to offer come September. “Never Wanted Nothing More” has just whetted my appetite.
If you haven’t heard his newest single on the radio yet or bought it on iTunes, Yahoo Music or another online music retailer, if you’ve missed hearing it live on the Flip Flop Tour, you can check out the sample on the Stand Alone player at the BNA official Kenny Chesney MySpace Profile. You’ll also find full versions of several of his other songs (including “Summertime”) there.
Blogcritics Magazine
Written by tink
Published July 30, 2007
Country music singer/songwriter Kenny Chesney is hot. His latest single, “Never Wanted Nothing More,” is at the Number One spot on Billboard’s Country Top 100 chart, getting there faster than any of his other songs. It’s the first track to hit radio from his upcoming Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, which was slated to hit stores as a late fall release. Now it’s been pushed up to September 11th to accommodate the demands of his fans.
2006's The Road and The Radio tour saw him and his backup band playing in front of more people than any other act in any genre across the board. His Flip Flop Summer Tour 2007 has been selling out every date, usually within hours of tickets being available. On July 22, 2007, TV network CBS reran an updated version of a 60 Minutes piece from earlier this year, just to talk about how happening a ticket to one of his shows is. If you missed it on broadcast TV, you can go to the show's website and catch it on broadband. That’s pretty hot, right?
He’s also in heavy rotation in my CD players and has been for a while now. Surprised? Let me remind you of something that no self-respecting rocker can discount: the relationship that country music has had with rock 'n' roll throughout the decades. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr. and Johnny Cash are the epitome of the cross-over appeal of country to rock. It should go without saying that Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran were among the forefathers of the rockabilly movement, one that is still alive and kickin’ to this day. It’s easy to forget that in light of all the other buzz they’ve collectively garnered throughout the years.
Best known for their psychedelia, The Byrds were the first "long-haired" group to perform at Nashville’s premier music hall, the Grand Ole Opry, in 1968, months before the release of their country-tinged Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. Shortly thereafter members Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons left to start up the seminal country-rock band The Flying Burrito Brothers, precursors to groups like The Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top to name the top of that crop. Keith Richards waved the flag on Rolling Stones’ songs "Dead Flowers" and "Far Away Eyes," while Dylan recorded a full album, Nashville Skyline, as his homage to the genre. That's not even the top of the iceberg... but if I don't stop now this could turn into a whole book.
Having said all that, perhaps now you won’t think that my enthusiasm for Mr. Chesney is off base. After all, my bottom line has always been that I’m driven by music and how it affects me. Does it talk to me, call to me, make me think, make me tap my toes, tap into my emotions and maybe cause me to hum the occasional chorus or sing in the shower? I get all of that in spades when I listen to my ever-growing Kenny Chesney CD collection.
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem was the first one I picked up, and from the first drumbeats of its opening track, “Young,” I knew I was gonna be hooked. “A Lot of Things Different” is an emotional song that can readily bring a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. Then there’s fun songs too, like “Big Star,” full of sass and attitude.
Next for me came Be As You Are (Songs From An Old Blue Chair). The songs you’ll find here are about the pull of the islands for Mr. Chesney and he has a way of singing them that makes you want to embrace that lifestyle for yourself. Sometimes I swear I can taste that tang of sea air and the caress of an ocean breeze when I listen to this CD. The reggae pulse of “Guitars And Tiki Bars” is mighty powerful. So is the lilting guitar of “Island Boy.” “Magic,” with the unlikely combination of piano and steel drums, is a song that makes you want to grab your sweetie close and slow dance all night long. When I want to get out of where I am, this whole collection of songs takes me to a totally different head, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Unlike some compilations, both his Greatest Hits and LIVE: Live Those Songs Again are terrific packages that make it easy to catch up for those like me that are coming into Kenny Chesney’s music this late in his career. Any worthwhile greatest hit compilation should be a truncated view of an artist’s musical catalog and this one certainly fits that criteria for me. The live CD is well paced, with a good sprinkling of older and newer tunes. But that’s not the only reason why it was an education for me.
It also served as my first introduction to The Kenny Chesney Band, those talented guys that hit the road with him tour after tour. It’s with the help of Sean Paddock (background vocals, drums/percussion), Wyatt Beard (background vocals, keyboards), Jim Bob Gairrett (acoustic, slide and steel guitar), Clayton Mitchell (background vocals, electric guitar), Tim Hensley (background vocals, acoustic, electric and gut string guitar), Nick Hoffman (background vocals, electric guitar and fiddle), Steve Marshall (bass) and Melvin Fults (steel drums) that LIVE has the pro quality of a solid studio-produced release; all the while giving you the feeling that they are having the time of their life.
“Beer In Mexico,” Chesney’s first solely written Number One single and the fifth chart topper on 2005's The Road And The Radio, is definitely a rocker. In a recent press release, Kenny talked about how that song came to be. “There's a real fantasy element to writing a song at Sammy Hagar's pool,” laughs the man who rocked 1.3 million fans live last year.
“When you're growing up listening to him in your truck, you don't think one day you'll be sitting at his pool writing a song… and that's what happened! When he invited us down to play his birthday in Cabo (San Lucas), we were psyched - and it was a party, too! But there's a moment when you're just sitting there, thinking about all of it - your life, your craziest dreams, what you want… out of that a song can spill out. Everybody'd decided to go out on the water, fishing, but I could feel a song coming, so I stayed home. Right about now, I'm sure glad I did.”
Obviously, I’m not the only one who digs that song, and is sure glad that he did too.
That’s not the only killer tune on that CD, either. “In A Small Town” has a similar tone and feel reminiscent of John Mellencamp’s very best. The emotions of “You Save Me” couple with an urgent yet low-key guitar sound to put many a power ballad from the 80's hair band era to shame. My ultimate fave, hands down, is “Summertime.” I can’t resist the guitar licks or its lyrics and I find myself singing them day and night. There's a live version of it currently playing on his official website and it's even more infectious than the CD track.
But, it’s not just his music that calls to me. As I found myself listening to these CDs more and more, I realized that I liked what I learned about Mr. Chesney from the music he chooses to record. It’s more than just the tunes though. I started to do some research, watched videos and checked out his website. I read and re-read the liner notes to his live CD.
It’s right there in black and white. No blase attitude. No lip service about how his followers are important while his actions say otherwise. In those notes Kenny Chesney lays it on the line.
He talks about the transition of going from opening act to headliner status. Would the fan base that he’d been building up for five years follow him?
"And come they did...with their grills and their boom boxes, ice chests, inflatable pools, palm trees, tiki bars, and blenders. They showed up that very first night and they haven’t stopped since. In fact, I like to joke that sometimes it’s more fun out there in the parking lot than it is onstage. What the fans don’t realize is: we can hear you. Just about every show, starting from that first night in South Florida, we can hear those parking lot parties back where we are, and that really fires us up, makes us wanna rock even harder, and kicks us into gear, long before the lights go down.”
Recently I had a chance to talk to Kenny Chesney, and found out for myself just how strongly he feels about his legions of fans. In between talking about music, our talk always came back to his devotees.
To Kenny they are “People who have real lives that are not always fun or nice. People who have real jobs that barely pay the bills. People who have broken hearts that hurt. Dreams that seem out of reach. People just like me. That is who I am out here for, the fans.” As for all the hard work that he and the members of the Chesney team do? At the end of the day, it is worth it all?
“It isn't about ticket sales. I try to make people understand that. It is about the lives you touch and that touch yours, the smiles, the laughter; the fact that for two hours I have the chance to make you forget that your life outside the parking lot may very well be hard. But for this two hours, man life is great and there are no problems. And by the way shoes are optional.”
To my way of thinking, you can’t get much hotter than that.
So count me in with the slew of other fans waiting to hear what his Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates has to offer come September. “Never Wanted Nothing More” has just whetted my appetite.
If you haven’t heard his newest single on the radio yet or bought it on iTunes, Yahoo Music or another online music retailer, if you’ve missed hearing it live on the Flip Flop Tour, you can check out the sample on the Stand Alone player at the BNA official Kenny Chesney MySpace Profile. You’ll also find full versions of several of his other songs (including “Summertime”) there.
