When Kenny Chesney pulled out some tapes to listen to his last 10 years of shows, he was immediately struck by the fervor of No Shoes Nation. And the more he listened, the more he wanted to share all these moments with the people who inspire him – and took the songs to a whole other level out on the road.
“You record songs, you put’em on a record,” Chesney marvels. “You know, people think it stops there. Even when it’s on the radio, that’s really between the listener and their life. But when you have people in your life like No Shoes Nation, I’ve come to believe, we figure out what these songs really mean when we get out there on the road and sing’em together!
“So as I was listening to some of these tapes, I decided: they’re as much the people who’ve been coming out to the shows as anybody’s! I shouldn’t be the only one listening – and that sent me down a tube into all these summers out there rocking. When I told the record company how many songs, they thought I’d lost my mind… And that was before we added ‘Young,’ which really started and defined this chapter, to the list!”
Starting where Florida meets Alabama on the Gulf Coast, Live in No Shoes Nation kicks off with over 40,000 strong hearing “Flora-Bama” for the first time, then proceeds through obscure gems, massive hits and intriguing collaborations. For Chesney, it became a sonic document of all the fun, the moments, the rising and falling action of a million+ citizen place without borders: No Shoes Nation.
“I’ve always said the energy that comes at us, it lifts us up – and really makes us take things even further. Listening, I realized we can’t take that intensity all the way in in the moment,” says the man Los Angeles Times called “the People’s Superstar” of what’s become his next project. “I wondered if everyone who’s come out to one of our shows realizes how incredible they sound; if like us, they’re so in the moment, they had no idea. They’re what makes this music special – and this, to me, was a great way to let them know it.”
With the first recording a medley with Dave Matthews from the close of 2007 Flip Flop Summer Tour, Live in No Shoes Nation pulls rarely played jewels including “I’m Alive,” “Coastal” and the deeply personal “Happy on the Hey Now,” as well as locational homages to Guy Clark with “Hemingway’s Whiskey” and Bruce Springsteen with “One Step Up.” In these quieter moments, the 2016 BMI President’s and CMA Pinnacle Award winner shows his poet’s heart.
Beyond that, there’s the high velocity good feelings that have defined Chesney’s work. Stadium shows, pop-up bar gigs, amphitheaters and the occasional beach takeover; it’s all here. As well as appearances by his friends, co-writers and tour-mates, ranging from Eric Church, Mac McAnally, David Lee Murphy, Old Dominion, Grace Potter, Taylor Swift and the Zac Brown Band.
“No Shoes Nation not only knows no boundaries, we love all kinds of music,” Chesney allows. “It’s why Grace Potter is as loved as Eric Church, why David Lee Murphy gets the same response as Zac Brown and his guys. We love life, we love music and we all really love each other!”
TRACK LISTING – Kenny Chesney: Live in No Shoes Nation
To be released: October 27, 2017
Flora–Bama
Summertime
Big Star (with Taylor Swift)
Boston
When I See This Bar (with Eric Church)
No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems
Anything But Mine
Down The Road (with Mac McAnally)
Guitars And Tiki Bars
Hemingway’s Whiskey
Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (with Zac Brown Band)
I’m Alive
Save It for a Rainy Day (with Old Dominion)
Pirate Flag
Somewhere With You
I Go Back
One Step Up
American Kids
You And Tequila (with Grace Potter)
Young
There Goes My Life
Out Last Night
Dust On The Bottle (with David Lee Murphy)
Coastal
The Boys of Fall
Noise
Old Blue Chair
The Joker / Three Little Birds (with Dave Matthews)
Happy on the Hey Now
