CMT Blog: Kenny Chesney

I've blogged before that I'm not all that interested in sports. Not as a spectator. Not as a player. And I think part of that stems from living in a neighborhood where people are so completely over-the-top about sports. You can't just sign your kid up for a baseball team at the local park district, you have to get him on a traveling team and plan your vacations around his all-star game schedule. And if he plays basketball, you'll need to sign up for special shooting clinics. And football? Well, he's going to need a personal trainer at the very least. It's gotten so bad that parents actually talk as if they are grooming 7-year-olds for college scholarships. But Kenny Chesney has changed my mind.

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If it was not for Jerrod Niemann's swift rise to fame, and his very infectious "Lover, Lover," I might never have heard of Sonia Dada. Neimann remade the group's 1992 hit, "You Don't Treat Me No Good," into "Lover, Lover." And if it was not for Kenny Chesney's "Down the Road," I might not have taken it upon myself to fall in love with Mac McAnally's music, as he sings the thoughts of a hesitant father on that tune. And really, I might not have paid enough attention to Kelly Clarkson until she and Reba McEntire came together for that unforgettable collaboration on Clarkson's "Because of You."

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The day I wrote a blog about how God says no to your prayers sometimes was the last time I talked to my parish's pastor about country music. It was actually the last time I talked to him, period. He died suddenly yesterday (Aug. 11). And I am struggling with the fact that our last conversation was about country music. I mean, shouldn't we have been talking about something more reverent? Shouldn't I have been asking him why bad things happen to good people? Or some other religious question that holier Christians ponder?

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Aug. 20, 2010

Hey Y'all -

We've been in Dallas and Tulsa, Okla., recently and the shows have been awesome. We rolled into Dallas on Wednesday morning and hit the ground running. Ran over and did some radio visits and met with some folks. The show that night at The Granada was awesome -- thanks everybody for coming out! Here are some pictures of the night. Had a good time hanging out with Meghan & Josh (from Steel Magnolia) in Tulsa. Josh even got up and joined us for "Long Haired Country Boy." -- Rodney

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In new videos screened by the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team recently, Kenny Chesney goes back to the football field, Miranda Lambert delivers a lesson and Bomshel get even.

Artist: Kenny Chesney
Video: "The Boys of Fall"
Director: Shaun Silva

Kenny Chesney previews footage from his forthcoming documentary film The Boys of Fall. Football legends from Bear Bryant to Joe Namath and Peyton Manning make appearances, along with many players from high school, college and pro teams.

Panelists' Comments: "That's good but it's really, really long." "Eight minutes!" "That's some great football footage."

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Say you've lined up Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Kenny Chesney and a whole onslaught of talent from all kinds of music for an outdoor festival. Sounds like a moneymaker, doesn't it? So how on earth did Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., lose $5 million in three days with HullabaLOU? I could see taking a bit of a loss, but come on. Five million? The president of Churchill Downs Entertainment said that he wanted to create the Kentucky Derby of music festivals (which is a nice goal, by the way) and noted, "When we started out with Derby, it didn't start out with 155,000 people. And it's grown for 135 years. Hopefully this thing will grow over the next five to ten years and become something that's meaningful." They had hoped to have 90,000 people but wound up with about 78,000. And the lost income from slow tickets, parking and concessions is partly what caused the big loss. They aren't giving up just yet, though. Organizers say they will try again in 2011.

Photo Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty Images
(HullabaLOU 2010)

Whenever I cover a country music festival, I'm always happy when Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban are on the bill because their music is easy to enjoy at the end of a long, hot day. They're both playing WE Fest this weekend near Detroit Lakes, Minn., along with Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser, Montgomery Gentry, Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton and Gretchen Wilson. That's a pretty strong lineup for country fans, but as they say on Sesame Street, one of these things is not like the other. So, where are the women? Rand Levy, vice president of WE Fest, told a North Dakota news website that it's just a coincidence that female artists are scarce on the lineup this year -- and that he did try to get Miranda Lambert, but she was unavailable. But he did grab Gloriana, which has two female members. Eric Church and Gloriana's Cheyenne Kimball weigh in with their opinions about women entertainers in country music, but I'm more curious about what the fans think. Do you care if there's an equal balance of men and women on stage at country music festivals?

As we close in on football season, Kenny Chesney offers up a song and video that will be especially meaningful for players -- former and current -- and their families. Chesney played in high school, too, and if I'm not mistaken, there are some quick shots of him in a blue uniform wearing No. 7 in here. He may not have had football in his future, but he knew that the lessons he learned on the field would carry over to the real world. Like Joe Namath says, "Life is a team game ... it's the big game." Parents will tell you that it helps families spend time together, too, and they sometimes get more emotional about big games than their kids do. But for Chesney, it's about more than the game -- it's about things that kids might not even realize at the time. After watching this extended-cut video for "The Boys of Fall," those things are much easier to see.

Fontanel Mansion, the former home of Barbara Mandrell, could be the most inviting tourist attraction in Nashville. Designed in the late 1980s by Mandrell's husband, Ken Dudney, the enormous log cabin is an fascinating feat of architecture. Meanwhile, the interior is decorated with loads of unique photos and a generous amount of original furnishings. If you want to pull up a chair in the formal dining room as you listen to the tour guide, that's totally fine. Or maybe grab Buck Owens' signature red, white and blue guitar from the wall and play it? No problem. You get the feeling that they'd even let you eat crackers in her bed anytime.

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Faith Hill is reportedly in Greensboro, Ga., for the Wedding of the Century, so I hope -- just for fun -- Carrie Underwood plays Hill's "Dearly Beloved." Maybe it's not appropriate at the actual reception since it's about a shotgun wedding. But maybe Friday (July 9), at the rehearsal dinner, it would kick off the festivities with a sense of humor. (According to E! Online, that dinner is being prepared by a chef that Underwood and fiance Mike Fisher flew in for the night.) But come Saturday, when the post-nuptial dancing begins, here are some songs I hope Underwood has on her orchestra's play list. Add 'em if you've got 'em:

"Stealing Cinderella," Chuck Wicks
"Lost in This Moment," Big & Rich
"Forever and Ever, Amen," Randy Travis
"You Had Me From Hello," Kenny Chesney
"I Swear," John Michael Montgomery
"I Loved Her First," Heartland