CMT Blog: Kenny Chesney

When I think about Kenny Chesney, I don't think "space cowboy." Nor do I think "gangster of love." Yet somehow, when he is singing "The Joker" with blues rockers Steve Miller Band on the CMT Crossroads that premieres Friday night (July 9), it all works. Actually, Chesney is such a natural on this song that I think he sounds as believable as Miller on the picker-grinner-lover-sinner line. The 1973 hit is one of a bunch of Miller songs they do together, and there will be plenty of Chesney tunes they cover, too. Those collaborations on country songs are the ones I like the best, like when Chesney did a CMT Crossroads with John Mellencamp and they sang "Back Where I Come From" together. That was heaven. If you watch, come back here and let us know what you thought the highlights were.

By the time you're reading this blog entry, I will be aboard the Barefoot Lady Pontoon Excursion, deep in the crystal clear waters of a Wisconsin lake. As you might imagine, I elected myself Music Director and put together a playlist of songs to thoroughly entertain my friends and me as we cruise up and down and around this lake. But I didn't want to make it all about the patriotic weekend, because we'll have enough of that on Sunday. Nor did I want to make it all fun-in-the-sun songs, since too many of those can feel like you are actually trying to turn your day into a country song. But now that I look at this mix I've come up with, I realize I'm a little heavy on the good-time songs, so please add a few I-Heart-America songs to the list to balance it out.

"Water," Brad Paisley
"Redneck Yacht Club," Craig Morgan
"Drive (For Daddy Gene)," Alan Jackson
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On the list of classic American songs that get covered way too much, Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" has got to be way up there -- and I mean that as a compliment. I've loved it since long before I had a clue what "really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree" meant. (Maybe he didn't have a ladder?) So getting the chance to hear the real thing last March was a big deal for me, especially since Kenny Chesney was singing it, too. When the two icons teamed up to tape CMT Crossroads, it was the hottest ticket in town, and they kept the crowd waiting for this song until almost the very end. Kind of like how you'll have to wait to see the rest of their feel-good performance until July 9 at 9 p.m. ET.

You certainly do not need to pay to be a fan of someone's music. That comes absolutely free. So there is occasionally talk (OK, vehement disagreements) about whether or not country artists should charge you to be in a fan club. I think maybe people aren't hearing both sides to the story, so I'd like to shed a little light on it.

Just like there are benefits to joining anything from Costco to a swanky country club, there are benefits to being a card-carrying member of a fan club. The most valuable ones are presale tickets and meet-and-greet passes. For example, if you pay $34.68 for a year's membership in Carrie Underwood's official fan club, you get those kinds of opportunities that aren't available to nonmembers. It's not always a guarantee that you'll be sitting in the front row, but it does increase your odds of being up close at a concert.

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If you feel like there aren't very many mainstream country artists releasing albums this summer, you're right. The next big project is Blake Shelton's second Six Pak on Aug. 10 -- which is coincidentally about six weeks away. Trace Adkins' Cowboy's Back in Town saddles up on Aug. 17, and Little Big Town is offering The Reason Why a week after that. Longtime country fans will be happy to hear that Joe Diffie, Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart have scheduled new albums in August as well. But it's not until after Labor Day that album racks will be thoroughly replenished with a bunch of new country music from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Julianne Hough, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes and Sugarland. I've heard rumblings about a bunch of other big-name artists, too, but no release dates have been announced. In the meantime, I guess it's never too early to start your Christmas list.

Lady Antebellum look like they took over the toy store to shoot their new video for "Our Kind of Love." Also, the CMT New Music Video Evaluation Team watched a performance from Kenny Chesney and the Steve Miller Band's CMT Crossroads episode along with new entries from Troy Olsen, Blake Shelton, Rodney Atkins and Steve Azar.

Artist: Lady Antebellum
Video: "Our Kind of Love"
Director: Chris Hicky

For their summer fun, Lady Antebellum played with giant piles of toys in what looks like a giant outdoor toy store to shoot their video for "Our Kind of Love." They co-wrote the song with Michael James Ryan Busbee.

Panelists' comments: "I bet shooting that felt like killer fun." "That is a cute video. It feels really sunny and happy."

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Kenny Chesney's next album, Hemingway's Whiskey, will be released in late September. He has said that when he first heard the original version on Guy Clark's 2009 album, Somedays the Song Writes You, he knew it was just right for his new record. "I was sitting in my truck and a friend had given me Guy's album, which had just come out -- and it's a song that talks about living life to its fullest, being a man about your responsibilities and not compromising. As soon as I heard it, I knew I had to cut it ... and call the album that ... because it says everything about the way you live your life, and what life can be if you refuse to buy into limits, which -- as someone who's read all his books -- is everything Hemingway's novels revolved around."

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Kenny Chesney learned about hard work and blood, sweat and tears long before he got to the big arena stages he's playing now. He learned it in high school as his football team's starting wide receiver. "I now know why we practiced longer, why our coach put us through double practices in the summer heat... all those things he put us through," Chesney says. "It was to teach us things me and everybody on our team has used to become the people we are." And so he's been making a documentary film, The Boys of Fall, about the lessons kids learn while playing high school football. He says the experience he had when he played gave him a "map for living life." From his music, you'd never really guess he was such a dedicated athlete. I thought he'd spent those years striking matches just to watch 'em burn and painting his name on a water tank and having one bottle of wine in two Dixie Cups. But those are just country songs. I probably shouldn't take them so literally, right?

What do teenagers see in country music? There are so many country artists nominated for the Aug. 9 Teen Choice Awards show, I'm a little stumped. I mean, it's not like they can relate to all the songs the nominated artists sing. In case you haven't heard, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson are this year's nominees in the female country artist category. The male country nominees include Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker and Keith Urban. And the country group nominees are Gloriana, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and the Zac Brown Band.

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The new issue of People Country hits newsstands on Friday (June 18) and this special edition is a must-read for any fan of country's real good men. They've named Tim McGraw as Country's Hottest Guy, but beyond that honor, they've also made a list of Men We Love and it includes Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Joe Nichols, Chris Young, David Nail, Jake Owen, Blake Shelton, George Strait and Chuck Wicks. But don't buy it just for the pictures of those guys. The stories are good, too. Like when McGraw, who is now down to 178 lbs., confesses that "I can't have anything on me when I sleep" and says his favorite sexy song is Santana's "Samba Pi Ti."

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