Interview with CMT Radio

by Josh | 12.06.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Radio, Tour

Kenny Chesney recently sat down with CMT Radio’s Cody Alan for an interview.

They discussed plans for next year, the 3D movie, who Kenny thinks is the sexiest woman out there, and a few other topics.

Click here to listen to the interview.

(h/t to Sherri for passing this along)

No Reality TV for Chesney

by Josh | 11.25.2009 | Posted In: In The News, Interviews, Personal

Kenny Chesney’s life is “real enough”, so don’t expect to see him on reality TV or even acting on the big screen:

My life’s real enough, you know? I don’t think so. I really don’t. I just don’t think that I would. I would rather concentrate on tryin’ to connect with fans in the audience and tryin’ to write a great song and cut great music, and that takes up a lot of time, to be honest with you. I don’t think you’ll ever see me do that.”

Kenny adds that he lacks the desire — and the talent — to act. “I’ve even had a lot of people ask me if I want to act. I’m never sayin’ never, but it’s not something I wake up everyday wanting to do, and so I don’t think I’d ever take a year off to go do a movie or something. I wouldn’t be that good at it anyway. I think I realized doin’ the ‘You Save Me’ video where it took us three days to shoot three minutes of an opening of a video. I realized right then I wanted my day job back — that I was never gonna have the patience to act (laughs).” .)

(h/t to Bonnie for passing this along)

Kenny Chesney Interview on Country Countdown USA

by Josh | 11.22.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Radio, Tour

Kenny Chesney is Lon Helton’s co-host this week on Country Countdown USA, and at their website they now have up clips of the interview portions of the program.

Topics covered:

• Kenny looks back at his Sun City Carnival Tour
• Kenny talks about his 3-D tour movie
• Kenny on performing with Dave Matthews
• Kenny looks ahead to his plans for 2010
• Kenny on partying with Billy Currington
• Kenny on tour partner Miranda Lambert
• Kenny with funny story about “the chair”
• Kenny on Tim McGraw’s new movie
• Kenny’s comments to Taylor Swift
• Kenny on tour partner Lady Antebellum

Click here to listen to the interview clips

Chesney Co-Hosting Country Countdown USA this Weekend

by Josh | 11.20.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Radio

Kenny Chesney will co-host Country Countdown USA this weekend with Lon Helton.

Lon asks Chesney about a moment during his CMA performance of “I’m Alive” that you may have missed. Kenny also gives his personal review of Tim McGraw’s new movie.

Visit CountryCountdownUSA.com for more info. The interview with Chesney will be posted there later in the week.

(hat tip to Rosi for passing this along)

Chesney Tops USA Today Tour List

by Josh | 10.26.2009 | Posted In: In The News, Interviews, Tour

USA Today is out with their list of the top tours of 2009 and Kenny Chesney is tops in not just country, but in all genres:

“You know,” says Kenny of the honor, “to me, it’s about rocking the fans… and I never want to have a ticket price that keeps the people who buy my records or listen to my songs in their truck from coming out and partying with us. If I can make sure there are always seats people can afford – and even try to keep the best seats where they’re reasonable for what they are – then I feel like I can keep having the party of the summer when I go out. Again, to me, it’s about that moment and having fun with your buddies.

“And when you look at some of the other names on that list, well, I’m blown away… cause those are some great shows, too! I know – I’ve been out to see a few of them when we were off, and to be in company with Elton John – who’s out with Billy Joel –, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen or my friend Dave Matthews, it makes you extra grateful that people chose to make you a part of their summer.”

Billboard’s Touring Editor Ray Waddell noted that for seven straight years, Kenny’s sold above a million tickets sales. Even on his shortest tour to date and charging the lowest ticket prices of any major headliner, he was also the only act on the list to play NFL Stadiums across the nation.

“I don’t think anyone sets up their concert schedule or their ticket prices thinking, ‘I’m gonna be the biggest tour on the road,” Kenny says. “But these are the moments that confirm what I already know: I have the best, wildest, most committed fans any artist could ever hope for. I like to think I live their lives with’em through my songs, and they’ve made my last 8 summers the best of a very, very good life by coming out to the shows they way they do.”

Read the full article here.

Austin City Limits Interview with Kenny

by Josh | 10.16.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Videos

Kenny Chesney will perform on Austin City Limits tomorrow but you can watch an interview from the episode right now:

ACL also has a preview of Chesney singing “Out Last Night” from the episode. You can view it here.

Kenny’s Austin City Limits episode debuts tomorrow night on PBS.

Kenny’s Year Off From Touring Not A Surprise

by Josh | 09.16.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Personal, Tour

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.

Billboard Interviews Chesney

by Josh | 09.02.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, Tour

Ray Waddell of Billboard recently caught up with Kenny Chesney to ask him a few questions as the Sun City Carnival Tour winds down:

So how do you feel now that the goal line is in sight?

Kenny Chesney: We feel really good. I’m exhausted, but it’s a good exhaustion, a satisfying exhaustion. We’ve been working on this tour — preparing for it, rehearsing for it — since last October. And that’s the kind of cycle of the last eight or nine years. It’s a good thing. When we’re in front of all those people, when they’re taking everything we give to them and giving it back, that’s why you do it. That takes away any exhaustion you could possibly have.

What was the mood like in the audience this year?

People are having as good a time as always. It’s almost as if they’re more appreciative that you’re there. We all know, if you watch enough TV, there are a lot of problems in the world, period. I tell the crowd every night that for at least a couple of hours we don’t have to worry about solving ‘em. And that’s about the loudest it gets all night. They don’t want to think about it, they don’t want to watch CNN, they don’t want to hear about health care. They want to play, have fun. That’s what I’ve seen from my perspective.

Are there any songs that you just have to play?

Any act has a song they have to play. I feel like it wouldn’t be a night if we didn’t play “Young” — we play that every night. I caught myself a couple of times this year not doing certain things I swore I could never do without. There were two nights this year we didn’t play “When the Sun Goes Down.” One, because of curfew, and two, because I just didn’t want to do it [laughs]. But I feel like “Young” was the song that kind of changed my life, even though I’d been around a few years. That’s the song that brings people down to the sandpit, and it’s the song I look forward to doing every night. It takes the show to a different level.

Read the full interview here.

Kenny Chesney Interview at No Shoes Radio Launch

by Josh | 08.11.2009 | Posted In: Interviews, No Shoes Radio

Thanks to Rebecca, we have the debut interview with Kenny Chesney from the launch of No Shoes Radio in Orange Beach, Alabama last Thursday. Click the play button below to listen.

Tremendous Reception as No Shoes Radio Launches from Alabama

by Josh | 08.06.2009 | Posted In: Fans, Interviews, No Shoes Radio

The reception for Kenny Chesney’s new internet radio station was so great today that the servers crashed and made No Shoes Radio unavailable for a short time (and may still be experiencing some issues). This message was posted on Kenny’s Facebook page:

Lots of folks are wondering why NoShoesRadio.com isn’t working. We had TOO MANY listeners and you crashed the servers! Hang tight… we’re working on it. Still going LIVE from the show in Orange Beach tonight. Man, it is HOT in Alabama!

At about 12:05 eastern time today No Shoes Radio launched from Orange Beach, Alabama with general manager Jon Anthony and Chesney crew member Mark Tamburino introducing the station. The first song that was played was… you guessed it… “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems”. It was a live version recorded at Margaritaville in Key West. The song medlied into “Key Lime Pie”, followed by “Don’t Happen Twice” and “Somewhere in the Sun”. A short time later Kenny Chesney joined Jon and Mark on the air to talk about NSR.

Anthony and Tambo mentioned that the station will provide exclusive behind the scenes access to the tour, including time spent backstage, on the bus, and on the plane. They also mentioned plans for an iPhone app and possibly a BlackBerry app as well.

Tonight’s show in Orange Beach will be broadcast live. Be sure to tune in at NoShoesRadio.com.

How are you liking the station? Drop us a line in the comments or on our forum.