He’s one of country music’s most celebrated singers. But Kenny Chesney’s latest work is a book, « Heart Life Music, » in which he describes his life’s journey, from East Tennessee, to No Shoes Nation and beyond.
Just as the sun was going down in the heart of old Key West, Florida, a self-described pirate rode his rust-ravaged bike to the Blue Heaven restaurant to meet a friend – a friend we just happened to be in the middle of interviewing. « She said come in! » David Wegman laughed, as he joined Kenny Chesney.
But that’s the thing about Chesney – down here, he’s not really a country music superstar. He’s just another laid-back local. « We know a lot of the same people », Chesney laughed.
He collects characters like seashells – he met Wegman at Ivan’s Stress-Free Bar down in the British Virgin Islands. « Above the bar was written in shells: ‘No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem' », Wegman recalled.
That 2002 song, « No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems », helped make Chesney one of the biggest touring acts around. Almost every summer he turns stadiums into beach parties. Among his many accolades: the Academy of Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year Award, which he won four years in a row. And just last week, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame – a career-topping accomplishment that he credits to taking that tropical turn in his career.
« You know what’s crazy? » he said. « I had an 18-song Greatest Hits album, and nobody knew who I was. They knew the songs, but I wasn’t comfortable in my skin yet. I didn’t know who I was supposed to be as an artist yet. I would go do shows and they would go, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the guy that sings that song.’ And then, ‘That’s the guy that sings that song.’ When I started being my true, authentic self, that’s when everything changed. »
He could have taken us to some Tiki bar down in the Keys to keep up his tropical brand.
