NEW YORK (BNA Records) - Though Kenny Chesney's known for his high energy shows and capturing moments that're common all lives in his songs, his grass roots Be As You Are: Songs From All Old Blue Chair, which hits the streets Jan. 25, is a decidedly more introspective, deeply personal album that offers an intimate look at the people, places and moments that define his life away from the spotlight - cradled in the string of jewels that make up the islands of the Caribbean.
While Be As You Are is not being presented through the traditional marketing means and channels of exposure, there are a few select opportunities to see, hear and read about the reigning CMA Entertainer and Album of the Year winner on a more revealing level. With People magazine on the news stands with a feature, along with a Country Weekly cover story and Entertainment Weekly and USA Today readying profiles of the man from Luttrell, Tennessee who found peace in the St. Somewheres, ground-breaking producer Rob Barnett sits with the man who's known for his ability to strike universal chords with the songs he sings for an hour-long radio special called "The Naked Truth," which will air in 18 markets the weekend of 1/22-23.
"It's a strange thing opening yourself up like that to someone you really don't know," says the man who sold 1.2 million concert tickets last year, second only to Prince's Musicology Tour. "But there was something about the way he asked his questions, the way he came at this music that got me talking from a whole other perspective. It was crazy, kind of."
Barnett refered to Chesney's latest work as "Genre-Busting," and he ought to know. Part of the team who created VH-1's "Behind The Music," Barnett has also produced the tv series "Staffers" and a feature film now in post-production of the 2004 Presidential campaign, was intimately involved in PBS' award-winning "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" and created Johnny Rotten's "Rotten Television" for VH-1 amidst a storied career at MTV, VH-1 and various major radio gigs as a Program Director, Music Director and Disc Jockey.
With a slot of NBC's "Tsunami Aid: A Concert for Hope" - broadcast live on Jan.15th - along with an upcoming "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" - where he'll perform 'Old Blue Chair" - on Feb. 1, the American Music Awards fan-voted Text-In Favorite Artist of the Year is getting back to work. His Somewhere in the Sun Tour kicks off March 9 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, followed by the full-tilt complete production debut March 11 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
"It's gonna be a big year," says the man whose When The Sun Goes Down is approaching quadruple platinum, just like his matching 4 million sellers No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems and Greatest Hits. "To start it with a record that's such a personal project is pretty cool - and the places we've been able to talk about it, like 'The Naked Truth,' are pretty great."
(Station List & Markets Attached)
"The Naked Truth" will air on:
WQKY - Tampa
WDSY - Pittsburgh
WYCD - Detroit
WUBE - Cincinnati
WSOC - Charlotte
WYRK - Buffalo
WIRK - West Palm Beach
WYUU - Tampa
KFKF - Kansas City
KILT - Houston
WUSN - Chicago
KBEQ - Kansas City
KFRG - Riverside
KSKS - Fresno
KUPL - Portland
KNCI - Sacramento
KMPS - Seattle
KMLE - Phoenix
