Jimmy Buffett performed Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, and Kenny Chesney made a surprise appearance to join Jimmy in singing “Come Monday” and “Back Where I Come From.”

See photos and watch video clips below:

(hat tip to Lisa for the photo and video)

In a note on Facebook, more details are revealed about how a huge surprise was pulled on Kenny in Lexington last weekend:

When you have your hands on all aspects of your business like Kenny Chesney does, it’s hard to have a surprise pulled over on you, especially on your own stage. But Saturday night in Lexington, KY, after weeks of under-the-radar-preparation, when Chesney took the stage, a bus with a special guest pulled into the backstage parking area.

So, halfway into the show, just before an acoustic part of the set, friend and musical icon George Jones walked on stage. As the crowd goes completely wild, Chesney is unaware that Jones is walking towards him. And just as he turns around, Jones meets him mid-stage to a completely shocked Chesney.

As the band breaks into “I Don’t Need Your Rocking Chair,” Chesney realizes that everyone is already in on the surprise. After the song, Chesney asks Jones to stay and sing the George Jones classic “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Walter Tunnis of the Lexington Hearld wrote, “In an age where country music has lost much of its sense of risk, this obviously heartfelt meeting between two generational stars was a bonafide thrill.”

On the magical evening Chesney said, “There’s nothing like sharing the stage with your heroes and when George walked on stage in Lexington it was one of the biggest thrills of my life! He means so much to so many and it meant the world to me that he came to the show.”

Kenny Chesney took the Goin’ Coastal Tour to Lexington, Kentucky on Saturday night for a show at Rupp Arena, playing for nearly 15,000 fans. And those fans were in for a special treat when a country music legend made a surprise appearance…

So how do you surprise a crowd when it’s been given everything it wanted and expected? Easy. You surprise the host.

And how does one accomplish that? Like this: at the program’s half-way point, marked by the folkish, anthemic 2004 ballad Anything But Mine, out walked George Jones. The George Jones. There was no reason, no occasion. There was nothing to plug. It was simply a cameo by a certified legend that no one – least of all, Chesney – saw coming.

Joking that he has entertained most of the parents of the audience on hand at Rupp, Jones launched into an impromptu version of I Don’t Need Your Rocking Chair with Chesney’s band cautiously following him. He then left as unassumingly as he entered before Chesney called him back to sing Jones’ heartbreak classic He Stopped Loving Her Today.

(hat tip Rosi)

In a press release celebrating his latest number one hit, Kenny Chesney announced that Grace Potter will join him at the third Red Rocks show:

The Red Rocks shows mark the first time Kenny’s played the famed Colorado venue, and the first time in five years he’s performed at any venue more than twice on a tour.

For the recently-added show on July 8th, Kenny has invited Grace Potter to join the bill, a new friend who duets with him on “You and Tequila” from ‘Hemingway’s Whiskey.’

Get tickets to this show and others here.

In an interview with CMT, Kenny’s “You and Tequila” duet partner Grace Potter reveals how she first met Kenny, and what it was like to work with him:

The first time Grace Potter saw Kenny Chesney in person, backstage at the 2008 Farm Aid concert, she was unfamiliar with his achievements. “Dave [Matthews] and Kenny were clowning around for like hours and hours and hours and I was witness to it, but I didn’t know who Kenny was,” she noted during a recent visit to CMT. “I just thought he was some crazy dude in a cowboy hat. I had no idea the levity of what he does and his approach to life.”

Likewise, Chesney had never met the dynamic leader of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals in person, even though he was a fan of her music. He invited her to sing a few sultry lyrics on “You and Tequila,” a song co-written by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter. After recording his part, he sent Potter the track. She called him back the next day to eagerly accept the overture — and she nailed her lines in the studio in less than 15 minutes. Chesney ultimately put the track on his new album, Hemingway’s Whiskey.

“Kenny’s really generous to other people in his duets. He seems to really give all of himself without ever making it about him. He’s very generous with the spotlight,” she says. And if the soft-spoken track catches on with Chesney’s fans, Potter just might end up being a country star.

CMT: What was it about this offer to record “You and Tequila” that made you accept it?

Potter: I was always sort of mystified and excited about the world of country music. Something about it struck me as enchanted. It’s something that’s so beyond what I do and what I grew up doing, it was like the unknown — kind of how I felt about gospel music when I first started listening to and studying gospel music. The song itself is just unbelievable. It is one of the most well-written songs. I knew it was just a demo. I knew it was kind of a one-tape wonder approach. And the second I heard that chorus, I was like “Oh, I’m in. I’m in.’”

Kenny has described your time in the studio together as “magical.” Do you agree?

It was, I think. Sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn’t. You can’t force something. If it’s meant to be, it happens exactly as it’s supposed to. In this case, he knew the kind of song he was dealing with. He knew that it needed to be something different. I think he understood that this wasn’t your traditional collaboration. I’m a complete unknown. In that way, I think he knew exactly what he was doing. He was like, “Let’s get this girl from Vermont who’s got nothing to do with country music, nothing to do with me, nothing to do with anything that I’ve sort of built my career around and let’s just see what happens with this really beautiful song.” And it worked.

Watch Kenny and Grace perform “You and Tequila” at the Ryman Auditorium here.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kenny Chesney discusses next year’s tour and the addition of the Zac Brown Band to the bill:

“Every year we try and bring the biggest and best lineup for the fans,” Chesney tells Rolling Stone exclusively. “I think Zac’s album is true to him and the fan base that he has built. His fans and mine will go hand in hand.”

Expect onstage collaborations between the two singers, who both had number one albums this year. “Every year, all the acts on the tour get the opportunity to come out on stage with us and I think that creates an incredible environment,” says Chesney. “I’m sure next year will be no different.”

The shows will be all-day events, with openers Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker.

Chesney took 2010 off to record Hemingway’s Whiskey. “I think we all needed [time off], he says. “But I believe that time off has strengthened my relationship with the fans I feel it in my gut. We’re gonna perform a lot of songs from Hemingway’s Whiskey and that will bring a new energy to the show. The band and I will hit the stage with a focused purpose and that’s to give the fans a night they will never forget.”

Pollstar recently interviewed Chesney too:

“I’ve always been a big believer that the music has to come first. And you’re going to laugh when I say this but I’ve never believed in huge productions. But I’ve contradicted myself for the last six, seven years because we’ve had a huge production. Especially in the stadium shows. But, on top of the music being there, I wanted to give these people a night of entertainment. I want it to look great, and I want everything that’s wrapped around the music to enhance it. So, yeah, I think if you’re going on the road for 60 dates and going out there and doing it like we are, we set a bar that I feel we’re used to, and what I want to give the fans out there. That’s how I want to present the show.”

“So, yeah, the 60 dates next year, it’s going to be a big production. It may not be as big as some years. It’s going to be a cleaner production. It’s going to be, I think, a more efficient production. But, you know, we already know what it is right now. We have a 3-D rendering of it on computers and we’re looking at sightlines, and we’re looking at lighting trusses, and we’re looking at you name it. It’s almost dialed in.”

The Boot has an interview with Kenny’s former tourmate and collaborator Uncle Kracker, and one of the questions they ask him is “If you could own any classic car, which one would you choose?”

I already own it! My favorite one is actually a car that Kenny Chesney gave me. As a tour present, he gave me a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner with 30,000 original miles — it’s awesome! It was my dad’s first car. When I was younger, he was redoing that car. And Kenny knew that. So during one of our tours, he had us come by his house and we were all just hanging out and he said, “I wanna show you something.” And when we came out to the front, it was sitting there with a ribbon on it. And not only is it the fact that it’s my favorite car, but the fact that Chesney gave it to me makes it even more special.

One of the singles from Kenny Chesney’s upcoming album Hemingway’s Whiskey is “Somewhere With You.” It’s written by J.T. Harding and Shane McAnally (who also goes by Shane Mack).

“This song killed me when I heard it,” says Chesney. “This is a tortured soul song. If you get going with somebody, you’ve been in a relationship and for whatever reason she’s gone or you’re gone. And you’re not necessarily in another relationship, but you’re with somebody else, just starting something with somebody else. Trying to balance both those worlds is tough. I’ve done it a lot, where you’re with somebody and you’re thinking this isn’t necessarily bad, but wow, man it would be really great to be with you. That can be a lot of mental baggage.”

Listen to Shane’s version below. Obviously Kenny’s version will have its own sound, but you can get an idea of the song by listening to this:

What do you think of it?

Hemingway’s Whiskey hits stores September 28th. Pre-order now at Amazon.com.

(H/T Michael)

Veteran country artist Randy Travis is working on a duets album that will be released early next year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his his first album on a major label. On the duets album, he’ll partner with Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, Tim McGraw, John Anderson, and more.

Just last year, Carrie Underwood released a new version of Randy’s “I Told You So,” and she ended up bringing Randy into the studio to turn it into a duet, eventually winning a Grammy Award with it. Appropriately, Carrie’s planning on joining Randy for this album as well.

“She wants to do something old,” Randy noted, “and I don’t even know what we’re going to do yet.”

The album is expected to come out during the first half of 2011, but it’s not the first time Randy’s tackled a major duets release. His 1990 CD Heroes & Friends featured a dozen guest artists, including Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Roy Rogers, Clint Eastwood and Tammy Wynette.