When I first wrote about Kenny Chesney a few months ago, it was in eager anticipation of the release of his new album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. It’s been out for two weeks now and the response it has gotten across the board has been nothing if not tremendous.
Double platinum sales figures are growing daily. It’s all over the Billboard Magazine charts. After one week’s street date, every (!!) song showed up on its Country Radio hit list... currently there are still three in the Top Ten. Sitting this week in Billboard’s Top 200 number three slot proves that the showings on Adult Contemporary and Pop listings are indicative of the widespread appeal of Kenny Chesney’s music.
Oh, yeah, don’t be surprised if it makes it to the top of my "Best Albums Of 2007" tally this year. Because I’m here to tell you this is an awesome body of work, from opening note to closing. Kenny’s voice is warm and rich, the best I’ve heard from him to date. He makes it all sound effortless, so that each vocal is like a door, opening and inviting you in to take your fill of the tale that every song has to tell. Don’t get me wrong... the music performed behind the words are top-notch as well. I’m just sayin’ that it’s little wonder then that people have been responding to Just Who I Am the way that they have, because I can get lost just in the listening process.
As for the songs themselves?
I think the best way to put is it that they have universal appeal. We all have "Demons" that we chase and that chase us back. Or have woken up the morning after and thought it "Got A Little Crazy" the night before. There’s the life lesson in "Don’t Blink," that laments that "life goes faster than you think." The sensibility to make it through the day as you "live and love and laugh a lot" as the opening song "Never Wanted Nothing More" states. Or that sooner or later, "we're gonna have to grow up, have to get real jobs and be adult some day, just not today."
Article comments
1 - Rose Whiteowl and Friends
Tink:
Once again you have hit the nail on the head. Kenny's music is the orchestration of so many people's lives in today's world. It's great to know that in a world of chaos, fear, overwhelming occupational demands and financial struggles there is still some peace of mind and sanity to be found. Even if it is on a CD.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspectives.
Rose
2 - Kimi
"Move on like a sinners prayer.
Lettin go like a levy breaks.
Walk away as if I don't care.
Learn to shoulder my mistakes.
I Built a fade like your favorite song.
Gettin reckless when there's no need.
Laugh as your stories ramble on.
Break my heart but it won't bleed.
My only friends are pirates
That's just who I am."
I don't believe there is any one of us who hasn't felt it, lived it, wished for it, and dreamed of it. The freedom to be just who we are.
There are times when I am so tired of being someone's wife. Someone's mother. Someone's friend. There are times when I just want to be who I am. Kenny captured that with this album.
I agree with you a voice like Bookstore chocolate and a unique understanding of human nature combine to make this an awesome experience. Not just a musical one, but a human one.
Thanks Tink!