In an interview with the Vancouver Sun, Kenny Chesney discusses how artists like George Strait and Bon Jovi have both influenced his music.

Chesney says that when he began his career it was popular to emulate latter-day Texas traditionalist George Strait. “I hadn’t found my identify yet. I was making records to get on the radio. Trying to be George Strait was considered the blueprint of success.”

The release of the multi-platinum album No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem in 2002 proved to be a turning point. The Good Stuff spent seven weeks at No. 1, becoming Billboard’s No. 1 country song of the year.

“My life changed,” he confirmed in an exclusive interview with The Vancouver Sun. “I was not being anyone else. I caught some flak. There was not as much steel guitar; the music was edgier and lots of fun.”

Chesney, 41, says artists such as Strait and Alabama did represent influences on his career, but so did Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi — and their rock styles creep into his studio and concert work.

And for the ladies out there, Chesney is still off the market (there was some speculation a couple months back that he and girlfriend Amy Colley had split):

Chesney didn’t want to discuss his current Tennessean girlfriend with The Sun, except to say: “She’s a normal girl, 180 degrees to my life. She provides balance, and I like that.”