Category Archives: Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney Live in No Shoes Nation is #1 219,000 in first-week sales makes 8th #1 Billboard 200 Bow, 15th Country Album – Biggest Live Country Album Debut of This Century Somewhere in No Shoes Nation — When Kenny Chesney started listening to show tapes from the last decade, it was just to relive some special moments from a life lived largely on the road. But the more he listened, the more he was struck by what he heard coming back from the other side of the footlights. It was the fans – known as the No Shoes Nation – who knocked him out track after track, summer after summer. And with that knowledge Live in No Shoes Nation came to life. “It’s such a rush to hear No Shoes Nation in full force,” Chesney says. “As fast as the nights go down, I didn’t even realize how good they sound – and the energy, the heart and the voices are awesome in the moment – so I wanted to make sure they got to hear what I was hearing during my year off.” To heighten that connection between the live experience and these recordings, Chesney opted to make the physical recordings available to anyone purchasing a ticket to next summer’s Trip Around the Sun 2018 stadium shows. As the only country artist on Billboard’s Top 10 Touring Acts of the Last 25 Years, in spite of only becoming a true headliner in 2002, Chesney has been called “The King of the Road” by The Wall Street Journal and “The People’s Superstar” by Los Angeles Times for his ability to connect at the stadium level for the last dozen years. “It is about the connection,” he says. “Before the people ever get close, I’m sitting at the farthest point from the stage feeling how far it is from where I’ll be standing. Whether it’s somewhere intimate like Stone Pony in Asbury Park or AT&T Stadium, I want to know how far to reach – so everyone is brought into these songs and this moment.” Evidently, it was a moment to hold onto. With stadium tickets on-sale, pre-orders and physical album sales, Chesney’s Live in No Shoes Nation comes in with total sales of 219,000. Beyond the sheer number, Live in No Shoes Nation becomes Chesney’s eighth No. 1 Billboard 200 debut, as well as his fifteenth No. 1 Top Country Albums bow. Live in No Shoes Nation is the biggest country live debut this century. Beyond seminal concert recordings Frampton Comes Alive, Bruce Springsteen’s Live 1975-1985, and the Allman Brothers’ Live at the Filmore East, Live in No Shoes Nation is the biggest double live country release since Garth Brooks’ 1998 Double Live. With this week’s sales, Chesney has hit Gold long before the 30 days needed for certification. “So much has happened over the last 10 years,” Chesney marvels. “But the one thing that remained consistent, that’s been there no matter what are the people of No Shoes Nation. Continue reading Kenny’s LIVE IN NO SHOES NATION Dominates First Week Sales→

Denver. Asbury Park. Dallas. Atlanta. Tampa. Green Bay. Perdido Key. Austin. Foxboro. Just some of the places and voices that populate Live in No Shoes Nation, Kenny Chesney’s second live album – and one that documents his rise as the nation’s leading stadium headliner. Beyond the massive stadium shows, LiNSN is laced with intimate performances, special guests and songs that have only been performed a handful of times.

Our favorite poet and pirate Kenny Chesney wasn’t intending to make a live album when he started recording his shows in 2007. He just knew there were so many special, magic nights and he wanted the tapes to remember them. And then when he finished his Spread the Love 2018 Tour, the man The Wall Street Journal deemed “The King of the Road” decided to go back and listen to hear how these songs have evolved over the past 10 years. “Even more than the way the guys have found new spots inside the songs, the horns or the special guests,” Chesney marvels, “It was the sound of No Shoes Nation that really caught my ear. They were so loud, and they only got louder over the years. I guess I thought some of these songs would fade for people over time, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. Even more than that, hearing them really got me fired up. The energy No Shoes Nation brings is its own rocket fuel.” So, Kenny Chesney took those recordings into the studio and started really listening. The more he combed through the tapes, the more he knew his next project was going to be a live album –  something that captures not just the songs or the musicians, but the people who shared all those nights with the 8-time Entertainer of the Year. “In some cases, it was hard to decide,” says the songwriter/superstar from East Tennessee. “Every version of the song was better than the last one. I think I could’ve used so many different nights. ‘Anything But Mine’ was one of those songs: people were so hungry to sing it with us. At the end, we just let the whole song die – and let the audience take it. Some nights, I swear, they sound better than we do! “That’s the thing about these songs, to me. I may record them, and be on the radio with them, but night after night on that stage, No Shoes Nation shows me: those songs are theirs. They invest their life, and their loves, and their heartbreaks into what these songs are… And when they sing, ‘In the morning I’m leaving, making my way back to Cleveland…’ it could be anywhere. That’s not what matters; what matters is that summer love, the one they’ll never forget.” [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDkxwvyFbIA[/embedyt] Working hard to create a document that reflects that passion has consumed a great deal of Chesney’s year off. Laughing, he admits, “If you want to really miss being out there, rocking, listen to ten years of the greatest fans in the world day-after-day.” Between listening, comparing, mixing, and sequencing, the guy the Los Angeles Times called “The People’s Superstar” has unearthed some obscure jewels, found some alternative versions, and caught some special moments with good friends that were only for the night. Whether its stadium shows, pop-up bar gigs, amphitheaters, or the occasional beach takeover, No Shoes Nation was there celebrating their lives in his Continue reading Kenny Chesney Talks About “No Shoes Nation” Live Album→

It took a week’s planning and two days of shooting, but Jessica Martinez with her co-director Will Renner conjured a video that reflected the random nature of meeting that special someone during college break for Kenny Chesney’s  “All The Pretty Girls” music video contest. The pair of Belmont University students created a clip that was marked both by innocence and what felt like authenticity of that kind of summer love for the winning entry. “We thought the first day was only going to be five hours,” says Motion Picture major Martinez, 19, of the shoot. “But when we got started, we found some more creative things to do. We ended up shooting for 10 hours, with an hour for lunch.” The time spent shows. Tracing a group of girls – actual friends – having a day, but running into some boys and needing some money, the viewer watches the relationship between the lead girl and one of the boys evolve through house parties, bonfires, car rides, hiking and creek jumping. “Our vision was to capture the essence of a summer fling – just the feeling of freedom and having fun, not taking things too seriously,” Martinez says. “Because Will is from Virginia, he was able to get people he knows from high school (to be part of it), which made it really fun to shoot.” Martinez, who heard about the contest on the “Bobby Bones Show,” texted Renner with questions about editing software – and they decided to team up. Both have experience as PAs and low-tier jobs on student films, “but this was the first big project for both of us that was totally ours. It was such an incredible experience to do everything all the way from idea conception to editing.” “It’s cool seeing this creativity from college kids,” Chesney said after viewing the clip. “They understood how to build a storyline and narrative, and they bring a fresh eye to these moments. (Their clip)’s really sweet, and just what this kind of song needed. I’m as thrilled to be part of Jessica’s college education as I am to have her – and Will’s – creativity be a part of this song.” “All The Pretty Girls” will be World Premiered on CMT’s “Hot 20 Countdown” this Saturday, August 12. For film student Martinez and music business major Renner, it is the first step on a path that hopefully for her leads to directing films and for him owning his own production company. Chesney, who started playing for tips in college, understands the seeds of big dreams. “To create something at this level when you’re in college is a huge thing,” Chesney says. “In ‘the real world,’ this is the kind of accomplishment people look at. But I think what’s so great about their ‘All The Pretty Girls’ video is you can also see how they translate their hearts into the work. People will see this, and know what Jessica and Ryan are capable of.” Chesney’s been in creative Continue reading All About Kenny Chesney’s New Music Video “All The Pretty Girls”→