It’s not done until it’s out. At least not if you’re Kenny Chesney, who’s always found and recorded songs and singles after albums have been turned in. Relentlessly pursuing the absolute best songs, plugged into old guard, right now and next wave music people across genres, he’s always seeking songs that say something new, dig a little deeper, offer a different take or musical spin – not for a project he’s trying to finish, but the sake of the music.
“Nothing fires me up like a great song,” Chesney allows. “Maybe it’s the way I came up at Acuff Rose with Dean Dillon, Buddy Brock, Whitey Shafer and Tony Lane, always writing something that’d catch your ear… Or maybe it goes all the way back to church, WIVK on the radio as a little kid, the Cas Walker local TV show in the morning getting ready for school and all the music me and my friends listened to, but I got addicted to how music made me feel real young; and it’s the one thing I can’t quit no matter how much discipline I’ve got.”
With an album done, three songs hit Chesney’s radar, and kept tumbling. What they said, how they hit him in the heart… the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar started playing with the sequence, swapping things in, taking things out, trying to figure out how to add them in. Laughing he admits, “It’s a little bit like putting a puzzle together: you know the best possible thing is there, you just have to figure it out. It’s been kind of fun, kind of crazymaking, but it reminds me the power of an actual album, you know? Ten, twelve songs that hold together, not as a concept, but more as a vibe rather than just a flood of songs.”
With “Carry On” making history as the first independent and only third song in history to close out the country radio panel in its first week, the man Billboard called “The Country Artist of the 21st Century” wants to make sure his first album on HEY NOW Records matches the energy and heart his team is putting into it. “Carry On”’s message also reminds him the power of music to speak to how people live, and the way music can empower people to live their best lives.
Co-producing with longtime collaborator and Nashville Songwriter Hall of Famer Buddy Cannon, the idea of creating something that holds together sits in a very sweet spot. “I’m trying to find the sequence and make some decisions, but those three songs make this a whole other project. Shane McAnally and I had a conversation – just like ‘Noise’ – and a great song came out of it; someone sent me a song that my friends Brett James and Tony Lane had written that says it all about life… and I’ve got one that’s about a place, but it’s also a state of mind and a state of being that’s really special. Are they singles? I don’t know, but they’re great, that’s what matters.”
Keeping with that spirit of creativity, Chesney guests on his longtime friend Rick Rubin’s podcast “Tetragrammaton” this week. Debuting June 10, he and the legendary rock/rap producer (Run-D.M.C., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Public Enemy, Slayer, Rage Against the Machine) explore the myriad ways creativity manifests, knowing how to find one’s actual truth instead of chasing trends and honoring the people and places who share your life experience.
“We’ve been trying to do this since before we released Heart Life Music,” Chesney laughs, “We are both so busy, we finally got it done. But, just like always, talking to Rick about music inspires me – and makes me want to push what’s possible.”