CMT Blog: Kenny Chesney

Grammy nominations are right around the corner but their hard and fast rules are making it impossible for some major artists to take home a trophy come Jan. 31. Like Lady Gaga, who has been on top of the pop world and a household name but didn't make the cut this year because her "Just Dance" was nominated last year. But what's fair is fair, right? So if not Gaga, which newcomers are getting the most Grammy buzz? Variety is saying Zac Brown Band is the one country band to watch because they comfortably straddle the line between jam band and country act. "Easy-going melodies, like 'Chicken Fried' and 'Toes,' blend Dave Matthews, Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney, and have found favor with a broad swatch from college kids to baby boomers," the entertainment trade publication says. I wonder, though, what country artists are missing from that list? What say you, readers?

Even being nominated, they say, is an honor. But after years of watching country awards shows, I have to say it that it felt so strange to NOT have Kenny Chesney accepting anything at last night's CMA Awards with a heartfelt speech about being from East Tennessee. Or Rascal Flatts NOT joking around on stage, awards in hand, while they thanked God and their wives. And there was a big fat void without Keith Urban doing some charming Australian-accented thing (although he did win musical event of the year prior to the telecast) or Carrie Underwood trying to stop the tears welling up in her eyes while she thanked fans, country radio and her mom. I'm not saying I disagree with the decisions of the voters this year. I love that country seems to be ushering in a new era of artists. But it feels like that journey from yesterday's winners to today's went by way too fast.

Sometimes when I hear that so-and-so from the rock world is going to be performing on a country music show, I wonder why they give stage time to outsiders. With all the talented rookies and even nominated artists out there, why are they complicating things? Why can't this be a country show through and through? Then I hear Dave Matthews throw his sultry best into "I'm Alive" with Kenny Chesney at last night's CMA Awards. And I hear Daughtry tear up "Tennessee Line" with Vince Gill. And I hear Kid Rock dial things up with Jamey Johnson on "Between Jennings and Jones." Now I've completely changed my tune. Those three artists didn't steal anything away from the show. They gave it an edge and that's a welcome addition any time.

The CMA Awards are always entertaining, and this year's event was no different. I do want to say that Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood infusing their hosting duties Wednesday night (Nov. 11) with some music was a welcome addition. Taylor Swift's opening performance was rockin' -- even for Taylor. I admit I'm a little speechless. Congrats to Lady Antebellum for their wins for single and vocal group of the year and to Jamey Johnson for his song of the year win ("In Color"). The Zac Brown Band's performance of Charlie Daniels' "Devil Went Down to Georgia" was probably the most fun to watch  -- especially since he did the version with the "old lyrics" -- and how about that fiddle solo?

Read more...

Everyone has been so focused on who the CMA entertainer of the year award will go to tonight (Nov. 11), but what about who it's coming from? It's an important job to bestow that award on a fellow artist. And I can't think of a better couple than Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. McGraw himself knows a thing or two about being an EOTY. He won it back in 2001, along with countless other CMA Awards. And while Hill has never been named EOTY by the CMA, she has been honored enough times to deserve the right to stand up there with McGraw and hand it to the lucky winner. Now the only question is, who? Kenny Chesney? Brad Paisley? Keith Urban? Taylor Swift? Or George Strait? We won't know until just before 11 p.m. ET/PT. But feel free to leave you best guess here.

Remember how you could see a Sugarland concert at movie theaters this past August? And how you could do the same thing with Miley Cyrus back in 2008? Well now Kenny Chesney's doing the same exact thing to get his piece of the box office pie. So in April, check your theater listings to go see Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D. The movie was shot in five different locations on both coasts, so it (hopefully) won't be the same thing over and over. "I've been trying for years to have the audience closer to me and to have me be closer to them," Chesney said. "It was an amazing -- and at times scary -- experience to have cameras that close, in the air, in a blimp. But when you see what this film captures ... even for me, who's in the eye of the storm, I was taken aback." According to USA Today, it won't be all about the stage show. There will be also be some fun fan footage from Chesney's June show in Pittsburgh when the 3-D cameras followed him onto a houseboat on the Ohio River.

Photo credit: Ed Rode

The résultats are in. And I have to agree with the country music lovers in France. Sara Evans is quite the meilleure chanteuse. At the recent 7th Annual French Country Music Awards, Evans was named Female Vocalist of the year. Alan Jackson won the best male vocalist prize. And Brad Paisley took top entertainer, musician and album awards. Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney and Mac McAnally, John Rich and Ricky Skaggs were also in the winner's circle. I'm half French, so it sort of makes sense that I would have the same tastes in good American country music as fans who are 100 percent French. Plus, this list of winners helps open my mind a little to accept the fact that country music has so much international appeal. And that sometimes, a country star can come from outside the U.S. Keith Urban is a daily reminder of that.

Today is All Souls' Day. So at the early Mass this morning, my priest asked us all to help the faithful departed get through the pearly gates by praying for them. And pray we did. But as I was thinking about all the people in my life who are now resting in peace, I couldn't help but think of all the songs that seem to celebrate the mournful moments as well as the celebratory moments. So many seem to capture tragic loss, and so many are good at extolling the virtues of eternal life. Feel free to add to the list.

"Go Rest High on That Mountain," Vince Gill
"Who You'd Be Today," Kenny Chesney
"When I Get Where I'm Going," Brad Paisley
Read more...

I had a feeling that live music was sort of recession proof. And now I have proof. According to the Tennessean newspaper, concert grosses held steady and attendance even rose a little bit. That means 19.2 million people went to see some kind of live music during the 2009 concert season. I'm sure some of those are repeaters like me who go to multiple shows in a season, but still, that is a lot of people. Kenny Chesney makes up for a large part of that number, as does Taylor Swift. The story theorizes that the concert industry did OK this year because "many belt-tightening fans saw going to a concert as a less expensive alternative to going on vacation." I've never really thought of a two-or-three-hour show as a vacation, but I can kind of see the parallels. The sun is usually out, the beer is plentiful and typically everyone's pretty happy. So yeah. I guess concerts are the new vacations.

Photo credit: Ed Rode

The Dave Matthews Band's mix of acoustic rock and jazz and their reputation for fun and lengthy concerts has made them one of the biggest touring acts of the last decade. And honestly, I think their music could fit in easily at any current country music festival. Matthews is already a Farm Aid board member, but now that it's been announced that he will appear with Kenny Chesney to sing their recent duet, "I'm Alive," on the 43rd annual CMA Awards, I wonder if he is considering more involvement for the band in the country music industry. Not that they need to "go country." With over 32 million albums sold and 16 million concert tickets, they have a sizeable and die-hard fan base. But fans do get older and the tastes of college-aged concertgoers is bound to change eventually. So it seems like a possibility for the future. What do you think?