Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ RCA) - It's been two years since
Kenny Chesney released new music, and the response to the earliest tracks from Just Who I Am:
Poets & Pirates, out
September 11,is overwhelming. 'Never
Wanted Nothing More,' the project's lead single, became his fastest No 1 - taking just 7 weeks to scale the chart - as well as 2007's longest chart-topper with five weeks at No 1, while 'Don't Blink' entered the chart at No 16, making it the highest debut second single from an album that hasn't even been released yet!
But as reactive as those songs are, they're only the tip of Just Who I Am's musical depth. Drawing on David Lee Murphy, Dwight Yoakam, Bill Anderson and Jon Randall, Don Schilitz and Brett James, Scooter Carusoe, there is a whole new musical hybrid being forged somewhere between traditional country, bluegrass and Southern rock. Perhaps the most adventurous cross-pollination is the Calypso-rooted shuffle 'Shiftwork.'
'That may be my favorite song on the whole record,' Chesney enthuses. 'The way it feels ,the way it moves, and what it says... I've never heard a country song talk handle punching the clock quite like that.'
And there's also the matter of having good friend and country legend George Strait join the triple and reigning Academy of Country Music and two-time and current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year for the Troy Jones penned song. Having been a part of two of Strait's all day Country Festival Tour - where the high energy performer got a taste for the NFL Stadiums he now plays - it's a thrill second to none.
'I can't tell you how many George Strait songs I played with my acoustic guitar, sitting on a stool with a tip jar back when I was in college,' Chesney admits with a laugh. 'The idea that I get to be friends with someone who was such an influence on me is plenty, but to have him on my record, well, that's the ultimate deal 'cause George Strait doesn't sing with very many people and I never thought, growing up, I might be one of them.'
Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates, which hits the streets on Sept. 11, marks a certain coming of age as an artist for the carefree musician who sold in excess of 1.3 million tickets last year and over 25 million albums without losing touch with the freewheeling good time songs that mark the moments of coming of age, living one's life and finding one's destiny along the way.
'You never know how things are gonna turn out,' Chesney marvels, 'so you just gotta keep living and growing and - especially - having fun. This year, I've had so many thrills: from producing records on Willie Nelson and my bandmate Tim Hensley to being signed by the New Orleans Saints for a day, but getting to have George Strait on such a cool song well that's amazing.'
