While no one takes their fans more seriously than Kenny Chesney takes No Shoes Nation, the unassuming songwriter/superstar from East Tennessee wasn’t prepared for the response to the news he was finalizing his next project. Having taken his time trying to create a set of songs that distills the essence of who he is, as well as so many of the people who embrace this music, seeing the blogs, social media posts and radio mentions, he figured it was time to get serious. “You never want to think it’s all about you, or that in this crazy world, it’s all about your music,” cautions the man the Los Angeles Times called “the people’s superstar” about the traps an artist can fall into. “I’m just trying to find songs that continue the story of who we are…how we live, breathe, work, rock, kick back and sometimes get tangled up in feelings that are anything but simple. Then you see people react the way they have to the news, and you go, ‘Well, okay…’ “I’d already decided on the cover because it was something clean and simple and true. It’s the kind of picture that says everything, but leaves plenty of room for everything else. My friend Allister shot it, and it’s just me looking straight into No Shoes Nation. When I saw it, it was really the only choice for this record.” “As for the title, well, we’re still not quite done deciding what’s going on here, but one thing’s for sure: BORN is absolutely the title track. It’s got a lot of heart, a lot of soul – and it speaks the truth about living, life and what we’re all doing here. Banjo out front, a great big pocket that rocks back and forth, it feels great. But more importantly, it’s a lyric that throws out all the options, never tells you what to do and throws out the one existential truth no matter what you choose: ‘one thing’s for certain, we’ve all been living since the day we were born.’” With a March 29 street date, BORN offers much of what’s made the 8x Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year the only country artist on Billboard’s Top 10 Touring Acts of the Last 25 Years for the last 15 years. As “Take Her Home,” the lead track, crests the Top 25, there’s plenty more where the song of three moments that define taking a risk and finding a life came from. “Normally, we wait until it’s all figured out, the T’s are crossed, the I’s are dotted,” Chesney says. “But everything about this record’s been different – from how much time we’ve spent, the different ways we recorded and wrote and found songs – so why not let the fans know as we’re finishing up? We make this music for them, so, here you go. It’s official: BORN, March 29 – and you’ve seen the cover. Now to the final line-up, and maybe getting a couple more out there.” After his Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour – with 23 stadium plays — adding an unprecedented third show at Foxborough, Mass.’s Gillette Stadium, Chesney’s gearing up for a year of new music, great shows and big fun across No Shoes Nation, a place where everyone’s a local.
