Kenny Chesney Born (CD)

(Blue Chair Records) 15 tracks

Four years... Song camps... good friends... crazy, great musicians... new collaborators... Writing songs to distill life, making music for all the right reasons. Kenny Chesney didn't see it coming, didn't set out to make an album. Instead, he's spent the time since the world ended making music with friends, putting pieces of life into lyrics and melodies, listening to songs he loved, and recording at the right moment with longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon. After all that, BORN was born.

"I can't call it a process because we never intended to make a record, just explore songs and moments to make music," says Chesney. "Suddenly, time had passed and somehow we had all these songs that seemed like different parts of who I - and pretty much everyone in No Shoes Nation as well - am.

"It wasn't a master plan. There was no theme that we sang about that tied everything together. But if you listen to all 15 songs, you'll hear the high-energy fun, the chase for adventure, the 'don't let people get you down' bit, and you'll get the more reflective thoughts about someone who died, the person you know you shouldn't call, emotions that were always in the music as well."

"When you're making music to make music, suddenly there's room for some road trip songs like 'One More Sunset' or 'Just To Say We Did,' songs that sound like me and my buddies growing up," says the eight-time Entertainer of the Year. "And you don't think as much about a couple of songs that are more introspective or about the difficulties of letting go, like 'Thinkin' Bout' and 'Come Here, Go Away,' which everybody's been through.

"When you listen to 'Born', there's a whole lot of truth about life, the big questions and what we're all trying to experience. The banjo up front really immerses you in the song, which feels great. I love lyrics that give you all the options but never really tell you what to do. Here it boils down to an existential truth, no matter who you are or what you aspire to: 'One thing's for sure, we've all been alive since the day we were born'."

After all these months, No Shoes Nation can finally unpack all the moods and moments that make BORN Chesney's most far-reaching album to date. With "Take Her Home" in the Top 10, three shifts of rehearsals for the Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour, and Chesney on "Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist" this weekend, the time is right for new music to set the tone for another summer of tailgates and stadiums for No Shoes Nation.