Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ RCA Records) - Every night when
Kenny Chesney leans into 'Big Star,' the song about one girls drive to work her way up from the local karaoke bars, he thinks of his own days playing for tips with a bar stool, a cheap acoustic guitar and a fish bowl for the money. He remembers how hard it can be, and how powerful the dream is to sustain you... and he wants to make dreaming this dream a whole lot easier for the next generation of McEntires, Straits and Alabamas .
'I've been thinking about how to do this for a couple years now,' Chesney says of what's being touted as the Big Star Contest to select his local opening acts in 34 markets. 'People told me I was crazy... and logistically, it's taken a whole lot of people to sort out just how to do it, to be fair and to find local bands all over America who deserve the shot. I mean, I remember having a record deal and getting to open for George Jones, and what that meant.
'If someone's come into Chucky's Trading Post - or even the Turf in Nashville - and given me the opportunity to win a shot to open for Keith Whitley, I'd've died. I don't want anybody dying, I just want to help get them a little closer to the dream.' That dream has manifested itself into more than 28 million album sales including his current Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates album that includes the hits, 'Never Wanted Nothing More,' 'Don't Blink,' and 'Shiftwork.'
The Big Star Competition means a deserving local band will not only open Chesney's Poets & Pirates 2008 Tour in their hometown, but one grand prize winner will be given a tour bus for the final weekend of the tour where they will open all three shows in Tulsa, St. Louis and Indianapolis as part of the actual tour, plus $25,000 and the opportunity to audition for SonyBMG executives, the home of Kenny's label, BNA Records.
Stadium shows will feature a battle of bands the night before the actual concert. Arena and auditorium concerts will have their Big Star Battle of the Bands a couple weeks out in a local club. Each winner in a market will be assigned their own tour manager, given day of show details and be the Big Star for their friends, family and hometown when the 3 consecutive and current Academy of Country Music and 3-time and reigning Country Music Association plays back where the winners come from.
'Getting a toe hold is harder in so many ways,' Chesney says. 'I had a lotta laughs along the way, but I'm amazed that I'm still here... looking back, knowing what I know now. I mean, you want it, you hang on, you fight for it and you just keep believing. If we can give some good bands a little encouragement this summer, as well as check out some of the best undiscovered country music that's out there in the clubs, the colleges, wherever, I can't wait.'
With the Poets & Pirates Tour - sponsored by Corona Extra - set to kick off April 18-19 in Connecticut , summer is officially on its way. With outdoor shows, arenas and 14 stadiums, it's no wonder that Chesney and his Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates are the ACM's leading nominee - for Entertainer, Top Male, Album, Song, Single & Video for the 5 week No 1 'Don't Blink' and Vocal Event for 'Shiftwork' with George Strait.
This isn't about me,' Chesney explains, 'It's about the fans, and giving'em their own piece of the dream. Being able to do this is maybe the biggest rush of all.'
