We’re less than a month away from the release of Kenny Chesney’s new album Life on a Rock, and on Tuesday night he hosted a preview party in Nashville:

Kenny Chesney threw a party for his upcoming album, Life on a Rock, on Tuesday (April 2) in Nashville, but it wasn’t the sort of sunny shindig you’d expect from the superstar.

Rather than playing the kind of anthems you’d hear at his stadium shows, Chesney has populated the new album with what he called “incredibly personal, incredibly autobiographical” songs. About 50 people were treated to a preview project during a private show at a small Nashville music venue, the High Watt. Life on a Rock will be released April 30.

Dressed casually in a gray shirt and khaki pants, Chesney sat alone onstage and spoke extensively about nine of the 10 songs on the album. (He skipped past the first track, “Pirate Flag,” since it’s already a hit at country radio.) Then he reached over to a nearby laptop and shared the new material for the first time.

Not unlike much of his catalog, Life on a Rock is very nostalgic. In particular, Chesney said he considers the songs “When I See This Bar” and “Happy on the Hey Now (A Song for Kristi)” as the lynchpins that inspired the project. For both songs, he draws on friendships for inspiration, with the latter being a tribute to a friend who died too young. He also noted he wrote the oldest song on the album, “Lindy,” in 2006. It’s about a man he often encountered on the islands, although they rarely said anything beyond basic hellos.

Most of the album is midtempo, although Chesney is not afraid to add a lighthearted feel to the mix. He told the crowd he wrote the lyrics to the thoughtful “Spread the Love” at the request of the Wailers, and their Jamaican groove in the arrangement is unmistakable. Later in the album, a duet with Willie Nelson titled “Coconut Tree” is a hoot, especially because the duo is “high on the coconut tree,” and presumably they’re not just talking about elevation.

Be sure to read the full story here. There are a lot of good details about each track on the album.

Can’t get enough of Kenny Chesney’s new single? Now you can take it with you and listen whenever you want.

Get “Pirate Flag” at iTunes or AmazonMP3 right now!

You can also pre-order the album Life On A Rock at Amazon. It hits stores on April 30th.

Kenny has been very pleased with the response to “Pirate Flag.” “We were watching the fans blog and post and tweet about it,” Chesney marvels, “and they may like ‘Pirate Flag’ even more than I do. And that’s saying something, cause when I heard it, I knew this was the kind of song the No Shoes Nation can rally around.”

Kenny Chesney’s new single “Pirate Flag,” the first release from his upcoming album, will make its world debut tonight on No Shoes Radio!

Tune in at 11pm ET (8pm PT) to hear Kenny talk a little about the song before debuting it to the No Shoes Nation.

Let your friends know about it by RVSPing to the official “Pirate Flag” Debut Facebook event page.

Remember you can listen at www.noshoesradio.com or on Kenny’s apps for iOS and Android.

Let us know what you think of the song!

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has certified more gold and platinum for Kenny Chesney’s trophy case.

The album Greatest Hits ll has gone Platinum and the singles “The Good Stuff,” and “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” have both gone Gold.

“You hope when you record a song, it’s something the fans can live inside,” said Chesney. “I’ve always tried to pick songs that felt true to who I am, how I’ve lived, or the people around me, and I think that since where I come from isn’t so different from anywhere else, it’s a safe bet other people have lived this stuff, too.”

Kenny’s next album will be released April 30th.

Somewhere on the Water: Maybe it’s the time of the year, the sluggish economy, the boring job or the brutal cold, but sometimes, as members of the No Shoes Nation know, you just have to let your freak flag fly. No one understands better than Kenny Chesney that need to jettison the mundane and push back against the inertia of life

And so now in the dead of winter, the 4-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year rolls out an anthem of everyday insurrection and rebellion on one’s own terms. With “Pirate Flag,” written by David Lee Murphy (“Livin’ In Fast Forward,” “Dust on the Bottle”) and new-to-town Ross Cooperman, Chesney offers an anthem for everyman that says, “Where I am may be great, but don’t think I’ll ever surrender to the 9-to-5.”

“No matter where you are, no matter how you live,” says Chesney, “there is that part of you that yearns to be free, to say, ‘What the hell…’ and just do what you want to do! That’s what this song is all about. The freedom and the idea that you can just say, “Enough,’ even if it’s only in your mind, while you’re watching your boss’s mouth move and are dreaming of whatever gets you off.

“That’s the beauty of this song: You can fly your pirate flag in your head, tack it up behind your computer at work, tattoo it under your skin – and no one has to know. Except you and your friends, the people who really matter!”

The song, which will ship digitally to radio Jan 30, is a thrusting piece of power country that brings tempo to a boil without ever missing a beat. Emblematic of the songwriter/artist’s own will to sail his own course and to rock country his way, “Pirate Flag” also serves as a wake-up call for adventures to come.

“Even me and the band can’t just run off and pitch a tent on some island, as much as we love doing it,” admits the man whose sold last ten tours have done in excess of a million tickets. “I think that’s why when we hit the stage, we hit it so hard – and the fans, those people from the No Shoes Nation, throw it back at us even harder. Because for us, that mutiny against real life happens in the music, happens at the shows, happens when all get together.”

Fresh off his 24th number one single, “Come Over,” Kenny Chesney is poised to release his next song from Welcome to the Fishbowl in a couple weeks.

Beginning the week of September 10th, “El Cerrito Place” will hit the radio waves.

What do you think about the choice for Kenny’s next single? Do you think it will earn Kenny his 25th number one?

(Hat tip Steve)

The three songwriters that penned Kenny Chesney’s latest chart-topping single “Come Over” were honored in Nashville on Tuesday night:

Good-timers gathered in droves Tuesday (Aug. 21) at the Country Music Association building in Nashville to toast Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Sam Hunt, the co-composers of Kenny Chesney’s latest chart topper, “Come Over.”

“Come Over,” Beuschel told the throng, was Osborne’s and Hunt’s first No. 1 single, McAnally’s third and Chesney’s 22nd as an artist.

Although Chesney was in town, other duties kept him from attending the festivities. However, his longtime producer, Buddy Cannon, was on hand to hear the applause.

“Come Over” — which one publisher recalled was written Oct. 17, 2011 — recently stayed at the top of Billboard’s country song chart for two weeks in a row.

CMA’s Brandi Simms presented each of the songwriters a medallion on a ribbon for his achievement. “It’s kind of like the Olympics,” she said.

All three writers seemed genuinely moved by the outpourings of praise.

Hunt, who moved to Nashville in 2008, said he didn’t even know one could make a living as a songwriter when he first arrived.

“I’ve been extremely blessed,” said Osborne, “not just this day but my whole life.” When he thanked his wife, he began to cry.

“We lost my father-in-law about four and a-half years ago,” he said, “and I write songs on his guitar every day.”

He praised his “Come Over” co-writers.

“I honestly believe in my heart — and I’ve been in this town 14 years — that Sam Hunt is a big part in the future of Nashville,” he said. “Shane changed my life. … [He's] one of the best co-writers I’ve ever written with.”

But Osborne reserved his highest compliment for Chesney, saying, “Nothing in my life compares with hearing Kenny’s voice on something I’d written.”

“This was all I ever wanted to do,” McAnally told his well-wishers, “and the fact that you all embraced me today is a dream.”

At that point, he, too, started to cry. But he recovered quickly. Turning to face Hunt, he said, “If I didn’t love you so much, I’d probably hate you. … You’re just scratching the surface [of what you can achieve].”

Read the full article at CMT.com.

The latest single from Kenny Chesney is spending its second week at the top of the Billboard Top Country Songs Chart. “Come Over” is Chesney’s 24th number one.

Behind Chesney on the chart is Love and Theft’s “Angel Eyes” at number two, followed by Gloriana’s “Kissed You Good Night.” Blake Shelton is at number 4 with “Over” and Little Big Town rounds out the top five with “Pontoon.”

Congratulations to Kenny Chesney for scoring his 24th number one song with “Come Over.”

“Come Over,” one of the biggest songs of Kenny Chesney’s career has topped the Country Singles Charts in only 11 weeks. Recently cited as “One of this summer’s hottest songs” by NPR Morning Edition, “Come Over,” is Chesney’s 24th career #1 single and was certified Gold last week for digital sales in excess of 500,000.

Congratulations Kenny!

Kenny Chesney recently earned a couple more RIAA certifications for singles:

Kenny Chesney has earned new certifications from the RIAA for his current single, “Come Over,” as well as “Don’t Blink,” a No. 1 hit from five years ago. “Come Over” has been certified gold for reaching 500,000 digital downloads. Meanwhile, “Don’t Blink” earned platinum status for 1 million downloads. Released in 2007, it is now Chesney’s fourth platinum single, following “You and Tequila,” “Summertime” and “Somewhere With You.”