The country star is mixing & mastering his newest album
As a new year comes into focus, Kenny Chesney returns to the thing he loves most: music. With his unparalleled passion for songs, players, and the road, the songwriter/superstar from East Tennessee has announced 23 stadium shows for 2024 and is now leaning into what will be his first collection of music since 2020.
“I’m ready,” he enthuses from Nashville, where he’s recorded across various studios. “Because of the amount of time we’ve had to work… and not just work, but really just hang out, write, experiment and play with different kinds of music… I got to go places, do some things we wouldn’t normally try because we have such a clear vision of what we’re trying to do.”
Pausing he adds, “Of course, I have to figure out which of the songs makes this record… what or why we’re holding some of these recordings for… and what’s the best collection of songs we can give No Shoes Nation. We’ve been having an ongoing conversation about life, love, friendships, what we lose and the people we remember since ‘Young,’ and that’s something I’m mindful of.”
The man has not only had several writing retreats “just to write and have fun,” but he has co-written several songs that will make the final project. “I never want to just force songs on a record because I wrote them. But I love the process of writing, whether I’m writing with friends or new people… It opens up how you see the world and music. But I’ve got four or five that I feel pretty sure are gonna be on this album.”
Chesney also drew from the crème of Nashville’s seminal musicians. In addition to his touring compadres Nick Buda (drums), Kenny Greenberg (guitars) and Danny Rader (guitars, banjo, bouzouki), he and co-producer Buddy Cannon have enlisted Pat Buchanan (electric guitar), Chad Cromwell (drums), Dan Dugmore (steel guitar), Michael Rojas (B3, Wurlizter, piano) and Dan Tyminski (acoustic guitar) among the players.
Defining his place in American music by distilling the best part of being young, alive and seeking what the world has to offer, that hunger for music and performing has never abated. As the chiming acoustically-grounded life-in-three-acts “Take Her Home” continues its sweep up the charts, the Country Music Association Album of the Year and Academy of Country Music Single of the Year winner continues celebrating how life looks and feels in the flyover.
“There is so much to say – and sing – about lives people between the coasts are experiencing,” Chesney offers. “It doesn’t take a lot to be happy if you choose to seek it, just like the passion people beyond New York and L.A. employ every day is every bit as thrilling. To me, that’s what my songs are made of… and looking at this list, I wouldn’t be surprised if this record comes in a little bit longer than normal because there are too many good songs to leave behind.”
With his Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour adding an unprecedented third show at Foxborough, MA’s Gillette Stadium, Chesney’s ability to capture common moments in his songs in a way that makes them remarkable is as powerful now as ever. Look for something special later this spring.
