COUNTRY CONNECTION: Kenny Chesney the rock icon — really

By Pual Kent
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: July 24, 2008

Yes, those big bold letters up there are as confusing to me as they are to you. But it’s real!

Kenny Chesney always allied himself with rock music, having grown up listening to rock and name checking “Jack & Diane” and “Keep On Rockin’ Me Baby” in his hit, “I Go Back.” For the newcomer to country, Chesney is a Baby’s First Country Superstar of sorts. With country becoming the refuge for many a pop and rock fan these days, is it any wonder that Chesney is the single most played artist nationwide in the last six months? Mediabase did a study and everything.

Kenny is king.

The situation has gone haywire, however. All of a sudden, Chesney’s on tour with Sammy Hagar. Yes, THAT Sammy Hagar. The Red Rocker. The other lead singer of Van Halen. (No, Gary Cherone doesn’t count, and I defy you to find someone other than Gary Cherone who’ll say otherwise.) I mean, they both have a love of the Gulf of Mexico and good tequila, and hey, what better guy to have on tour with you than a drinking buddy, but really?

Chesney’s being promoted in a credit card’s promotion where you can see the roots of various legends — Eric Clapton, John Bon Jovi, and Kenny Chesney.

It’s a good move financially, since the legions of Chesney fans — Chesney Nation? Chesnoholics? — will gladly sign up to whatever it takes in order to support

His Royal Baldness, as his fan-voted “Entertainer of the Year” CMA Award proved. But still, you’re taking a guy who’s been playing guitar longer than I’ve been alive twice over, jumping from legendary band to legendary band. Then you’re taking a guy who pretty much single-handedly changed the face of an entire genre, moving metal from an angry male scene to screaming fan girls throughout the land.

And then you’re taking the guy who gave us “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

I’m not trying to take away anything from Kenny’s empire here. He built it fair and square and put out enough hit singles to dominate radio utterly. But the man’s just not a living legend yet. He hasn’t even eclipsed Garth Brooks in terms of overall impact. He’s a good musician and cranks out hits like McDonald’s cranks out French fries, but he’s not Clapton. Not yet.

If Chesney ends up playing with the Bluesbreakers, however, I won’t know what to do with myself anymore. They’ll find me throwing beer bottles off the roof of the Thunder studio while belting out the lyrics to “Beer in Mexico.” It won’t be pretty.

Paul Kent hosts Thunder After Dark, 7 p.m. to midnight weekdays and the Saturday Night Special, Saturdays 7 p.m. to midnight on Thunder 104.5 Everything Country and More.