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With his tour on pause, Kenny Chesney wanted to do something special for No Shoes Nation when it came time to release Here And Now. Though not known for his social media engagement, the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar went live from his home outside Nashville. But even more than answering the dozen and a half questions from fans all over the country, Chesney also enlisted the writers for six of the songs to join him on his social media platforms plus SiriusXM’s The Highway and No Shoes Radio.
“This album is so much about the writers and the fun of being together, the people in the songs and the heart of what No Shoes Nation is,” explains the man who has the most Billboard Country No. 1 hits. “We took the music a lot of places, looked at a lot of moments and found some characters you can’t turn away from. So, I wanted the songwriters to be part of releasing this music to the world!”
David Lee Murphy, Brett James, Kat Higgins, James Slater, Bobby Hamrick, Jamie Paulin, Barry Dean, Dustin Christensen and Josh Kerr took part in the intimate performances from the question and answer session broadcast direct to No Shoes Nation. With a little rehearsal and a whole lot of love, the revolving creators brought “Knowing You,” “Happy Does,” “Beautiful World,” “You Don’t Get To,” “Wasted” and “Guys Named Captain,” as well as a bonus “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” to life via their loose, in the moment, sheer chemistry of creation.
“It was so much fun, bringing all the writers together… Some of them old friends, some I’d never met. Kat Higgins is so young and so good. David Lee Murphy remains the hillbilly rock star. Every single one of them is such a creative spirit; I loved being able to show everyone around the world how amazing the people I get to write and play music with are,” shares Chesney.
With viewers from Italy and Ireland, the Caribbean and Hawaii, as well as questions from Arizona, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and California, it was No Shoes Nation at its best. As he said, “I didn’t know what to expect, and I knew I wanted to give the people something they wouldn’t normally get to see – and they really threw some great questions at me! No Shoes Nation really listens and really cares about this music, and that keeps me pushing to always give them more.”
