CMT Blog: Archive

Inspired by a message he wanted to share with future generations of his family, Big Kenny's new single, "Long After I'm Gone," is definitely philosophical. However, I'm especially drawn to the thumping pulse of the song. During a recent interview at CMT, I asked him why he wrote it with an up-tempo melody. "My wildest dreams are an up-tempo, positive thing," he replied. "That's the kind of energy I want to leave behind."

Big Kenny shot the music video at his family's farm in Virginia a day or two before trekking to Africa to build a school. "I wanted people to see where I came from," he said. "It meant so much for me to make the right statement and the right feeling. 'The right energy' is the best way to put it. And I think that song does, you know? I can drive to that, and when you can drive to a song, that's a good thing. You can run to it, you can drive to it and then the lyric just sinks in and tells me something good. I like that."