Yesterday Kenny Chesney announced that he would be taking most of next year off. In hindsight it’s not much of a surprise as over the past several months Kenny has hinted that he was considering taking a break.

Last November, Chesney discussed the possibility of touring overseas if he ever took a year off from the states:

“The summer that I take a year off from the States might be the summer that I go over there and test the waters,” Kenny tells Dial-Global. “My friend Bruce Springsteen told me once I go over there and build that fan base that they will always be there. So I hope he’s right. I wanna try and do that someday.”

This is interesting because in the Entertainment Weekly interview with Kenny that was posted yesterday (see “No Tour Next Year For Kenny Chesney”), Chesney also mentioned Bruce Springsteen:

“Bruce Springsteen has pretty much defined the live communion with the audience. He has defined the passion and the connection to the fans. And one night when we were playing in New Jersey, Bruce sat on my bus with me and we talked for a couple hours, and he told me something that hit me really hard, and it’s stuck with me ever since. He said, “Kenny, you can write half a song on a piece of paper, and you can put that piece of paper away in a drawer for five years, and you can go back to it, and that song will still be there. But life isn’t like that. And whatever you’re doing, don’t miss your life, too.” And I thought about that all year. I’ve been giving to one thing for so long that I just realized that had to change.”

Then in June, our article “Chesney Ready To Take A Year Off” covered another Entertainment Weekly interview where Kenny expressed his desire to take a break:

If you’d told me when I was sitting on that barstool [playing for tips after college] that I’d win as many Entertainers of the Year as Garth Brooks did, I’d have told you you were crazy. And I have. Do I want to win another one? Yeah, sure. But you know what? The things that you have to do to be in that spot? I’m not gonna do anymore. I’m not. Because it has… in ways… I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s like — it almost makes it seem mechanical. And I think I can be better than that. I really do. I don’t think I’ve written my best song yet. I want to be a great songwriter. And if that means, you know, taking a year off and living on my boat and writing those songs, I want to do it. Despite the consequences.”

“You almost seem like you’re looking forward to it,” I suggested, and Chesney nodded. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I still think that I’ve got a lot to give. But I want to give on my own terms. Because me and these guys have been busting our ass forever. And I’m not gonna stop doing that. We live by the code of we work really hard, and we play harder. There’s no doubt about it. But I really don’t think I’ve written my best song.