The day before Kenny Chesney plays to tens of thousands of fans at Gillette Stadium, he played to a few hundred at the Royale Nightclub as part of the CMA Songwriters Series.
“When you hear songs on the radio and wonder where they come from, this,’’ said Kenny Chesney, sweeping an arm toward his left and right, “is where they come from.’’
The country superstar was gesturing toward five fellow songwriters on the stage at Royale – Bob DiPiero, Matraca Berg, Craig Wiseman, Wendell Mobley, and Brett James – who are responsible for some of the biggest hits in country music of the last two decades, including some of Chesney’s best-known songs.
Armed with acoustic guitars and their voices, the sextet spent 2 1/2 captivating hours singing, telling tales on each other, and breaking down what’s involved in creating the soundtrack to listeners’ lives.
It was a treat to watch Chesney, who graduated to stadium-level success years ago, shrink his larger-than-life persona down for the small stage, excitedly talking about the bones of his songs like “Old Blue Chair’’ and joining his partners in rhyme to play, sing backup and laugh along with their stories.
First announced back in June, Kenny Chesney will perform in Boston as part of the CMA Songwriters Series next week. And lucky for us, the show will be streamed live!
“I came to town as a songwriter and always consider myself a songwriter first,” said Chesney. “I’m looking forward to playing alongside my friends and heroes who create and write amazing songs for a living. I’m really proud to help the CMA show the fans what great music comes out of Nashville from our awesome writers. I couldn’t think of a better place to showcase this than in the city of Boston. The fans have been amazing to us and I am thrilled to be ending our tour with over 100,000 sold tickets in one of the greatest markets in the world.”
Joining Chesney will be songwriters Matraca Berg, Brett James, and Wendell Mobley. Songwriter Bob DiPiero will be the host for the evening.
Fresh off a massively successful show at New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey that he said was “one of the best nights of our lives,” Kenny Chesney slipped up to Burlington, Vermont and joined Grace Potter at her Waterfront Park show.
He and Potter sang “You and Tequila,” with Chesney briefly bestowing Potter with his trademark cowboy hat, before Chesney declared “I think I’m going to spend the night.”
He stuck around for cover versions of the Bad Company rocker “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the Tom Petty tune “Free Fallin’,” alternating verses with Potter. Chesney left the stage with high praise for Potter and the Nocturnals: “This is the best band in America, the world, right here,” he said as the show ended.
Watch a video of Kenny and Grace singing “Free Falling” here.
Chesney previously joined Grace last November when she played the Ryman in Nashville, and just last month she joined Kenny at Red Rocks in Colorado.
On Thursday night, Bret Michaels joined Kenny Chesney at his show in Cincinnati. According to Country Music Is Love, Michael came out on stage and sang “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” with Chesney.
Kenny Chesney will participate in the CMA Songwriters Series for the first time when it comes to the Royale Nightclub in Boston this August:
This is Chesney’s first time participating in the series, as well as the series’ first show in Boston. Chesney will be joined by three songwriters whose work has been covered by Chesney — Matraca Berg (“You and Tequila”), Brett James (“When the Sun Goes Down,” “Out Last Night”), Craig Wiseman (“The Good Stuff,” “Summertime”) — and series host Bob DiPiero.
Tickets go on sale this Friday (July 1st) at noon ET through TicketMaster. Prices are $75 for VIP seating, $45 for floor seating and $30 for general admission.
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.
The day before Kenny Chesney plays to tens of thousands of fans at Gillette Stadium, he played to a few hundred at the Royale Nightclub as part of the CMA Songwriters Series.
Fresh off a massively successful show at New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey that he 
In a note on Facebook, more details are revealed about how a huge surprise was pulled on Kenny in Lexington last weekend:
On April 28th, the Grammy Museum 
