NASHVILLE, TN. (BNA Records) - Somewhere in the Tropics:
Kenny Chesney may be re-charging his batteries and reinvesting in his inspiration, but nothing can dampen his enthusiasm for Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair, the singer/songwriter project that's come out of the CMA Album and Entertainer of the Year winner's personal evolution in the islands. And his enthusiasm is contagious - as "The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno" has already booked the fan-voted American
Music Awards Artist of the Year for a Feb. 1 appearance on the NBC late night show.
"It's funny how even when you're taking time off, when there's something you're excited about in your career, the momentum just keeps happening," says the man whose When The Sun Goes Down is the biggest selling country album of 2004. "Be As You Are literally came out of my life... It's songs I've been writing and kind of recording for three or four years... with no master plan, no reason to DO it - except I wanted to.
"And when you don't do things thinking about the business of them, you really enjoy them - and you want to share them with people. Maybe because it is so personal, because it shows a side of me only a very few people see, the people who are hearing it are really responding. I don't know - it just seems like every time I pick up the phone, it's someone calling to tell me they love the record, or someone they know does.
"So even though we're off, the idea that 'The Tonight Show' is into the music makes me happy... that the music is working even when I'm not! Because, and I know it sounds cliche, but I really do care about this music, about the lives of the people who see themselves in these songs. This is thing I've done that's the closest to me when I'm not onstage, how I live and think and the people who touch my life... So getting to show it to so many people at one time is a pretty great thing."
With "Anything But Mine" going into Hot Shot Rotation at CMT, the latest single from Chesney's triple platinum and counting When The Sun Goes Down - the biggest-selling country cd of 2004, his studio album shows no signs of slowing down. Even as Be As You Are is being released concurrently, the intimate glimpse into the man who played to 1.2 million country fans isn't forgetting about the pumped-up music that has helped him become one of the biggest names in contemporary music.
"I'm very lucky to have people supporting me in a very personal project," acknowledges the man who's only been outsold by Usher and Norah Jones at the record store, Prince at the concert venues. "It's unorthodox, but my label got behind it. It's not what people necessarily expect, but the folks at 'The Tonight Show' are willing to help me share it with the fans... because obviously we won't be doing a tour behind this album, we'll be continuing to do what we do on the road.
"And that's been the beauty of my career to here: people have always been willing to help. You know, it goes back to what I learned in football - the whole notion of teamwork. I've been blessed with an amazing team, and this just proves it to me once again."
Be As You Are: Songs From An Old Blue Chair arrives in stores January 25.
