Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ RCA Records) - It's not one... not two... but five different combinations to bring Kenny Chesney's 2008
Poets &
Pirates Tour to 14 stadiums across America. With a varying cast of musicians - picked for their intensity and ability to connect with a crowd - the
Corona Extra sponsored tour is about giving the new breed of country fan a full-tilt day of music that can truly define the summer.
'My fans are used to a lot of energy and a lot of fun,' explains the three-in-a-row and current Academy of Country Music and triple and reigning Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. 'So when you're trying to make a big show out of what we're already doing, you have to really pay attention, really make sure you've got the very best of the best because we're trying to give them as much as they throw back at us.'
Chesney's shows - known for the tailgating, cook-outs, touch football and Frisbee playing and general block party vibe long before the gates even open - are the ultimate good time. It has helped the singer/songwriter sell in excess of a million concert tickets every year for the last 6 summers - with 2007's Flip Flop Summer Tour being the 2nd biggest tour behind the Police's Reunion .
Anchoring the rotating cast of artists on 10 stadium dates is Keith Urban, the critically-lauded Grammy-winner who's the only CMA Horizon winner to also win Entertainer of the Year, as well as 3 Male Vocalists of the Year Awards. With 7 No 1 singles, including 'Somebody Like You,' 'Days Go By,' 'You'll Think of Me,' 'Better Life' and 'Once In A Lifetime' from his Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing, he is not just a close friend of Kenny's, but a consummate performer.
Also joining the line-up for various shows are industrial strength four time Entertainers of the Year Brooks & Dunn, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar, outlandish country duo Big & Rich, newcomer Luke Bryan, California country icon Gay Allan and Grammy-winning Poets & Pirates tour mate LeAnn Rimes. Chesney brings this super-sized show to Columbia, SC, Baltimore, MD, Cleveland, OH, Detroit, MI, Pittsburgh, PA, Atlanta, GA, Dallas TX, Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, AZ, Nashville, TN, Chicago, IL, San Francisco, CA, Foxboro, MA and Indianapolis, IN
'We did six NFL stadiums last year and had a blast,' Chesney says. 'You get into a whole other kind of rhythm, and it's just the best vibe... the people are ready to rock, they're there to have fun - and all the acts talked about how they could really feel it. If you're all about people having a good time, kicking back and being with their friends, this really is the way to do it! And that's as much for all of us behind the stage as it is for everybody out there, hanging with their friends and singing along.'
With 'Shiftwork,' the tropical homage to clock-punching people working hard for their money, hitting the Top 10 this week, Chesney - who spent over 25% of 2007 at No 1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart with 'Never Wanted Nothing More,' 'Don't Blink' and 'Beer In Mexico' - is in the musical zone. Having produced both Willie Nelson's Moment of Forever and bandmate Tim Hensley's acoustic/bluegrass Long Monday, both dropping on Jan. 29, Kenny is ready to take that music making ability of his and get it out on the road in a big way.
'It's gonna be a great summer,' he enthuses. 'I have some of my very favorite acts and some people who are so cool to hang out with - and we're gonna get to make an awful lot of music. Isn't that what this is supposed to all about? I can't wait...'
