Kenny Chesney has spent the past couple years amassing songs, thinking about life and breaking ground almost everywhere he’s gone. But beyond the Country Music Hall of Fame induction, two Sphere residencies and a New York Times No. 1 Hardcover Nonfiction and Combined Print and E-Book Nonfiction debut, he remains – first and foremost – a music man.
And that was more than apparent with the response to “Carry On,” his debut single on indie start up HEY NOW Records. Only the third time – and first for an independent label – a single locked the entire reporting country radio panel in its release week, the response to the life-affirming midtempo celebration of bartender wisdom suggested the 8-time Entertainer of the Year was hitting a new gear artistically and connecting with the voracious No Shoes Nation.
“People thought it was crazy when we made the moves we made,” says the high impact performer. “But I knew I wanted to color outside the lines, create an album that was about the music, how it feels and what it’s saying… and everything about it has felt right.”
That freedom led to Silver Sands Marina, an eclectic collection of songs that explore the moments where things change, reckoning with the price paid, but especially the thrill of being wholly and unabashedly alive even on the hard days. That ability to find the joy has defined Chesney’s positive energy, dig in and sow the love reality.
For one night, the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar returns to TalkShopLive for an in-depth conversation about the process that saw Chesney make a final track call that added three new songs after the album was done. Having cut his professional teeth as a songwriter at Acuff-Rose Music, as well as a kid playing for tips on a much different Lower Broadway, the man the Los Angeles Times called, “The People’s Superstar” understands the power of not just isolated songs, but how they fall together.
Viewers can watch and shop signed exclusive picture disc vinyl, standard vinyl and CD on July 30 at 7pm EDT at this link: https://talkshop.live/watch/fvRzP4UAS_kb
“In a world where it’s all about the algorithm, I want to believe there’s still room for a kid with a guitar, songs in their heart and a bunch of friends who want to chase it with them. To me, how I got here was a lot of fun, and it let me learn from so many amazing people – and to understand more than the mechanics, the heart of what songs deliver when they’re together and I want to pass that on.”
Beyond the first conversation about the project, to mark the occasion Chesney and HEY NOW are creating a special limited edition picture disc to supplement the signed vinyl and CDs available exclusively through TalkShopLive.
“TalkShopLive gave me a great place to deep dive into Heart Life Music before it was published; it created a real conversation about trying to connect with not just my audience, but people who wanted to chase a dream nobody saw coming. I was surprised the people who told me they’d watched it, or the video after…
“When they invited me back on – because of the way they heard this music – I was all in. A lot went into making Silver Sands Marina, wanting to create something that was authentic. It’s country. It rocks. It’s philosophical in places. But every single song takes you somewhere. TalkShopLive lets us dig into all of it, and I love that.”
