Luke Bryan Reigns At Spring Break Panama City

Kenny Chesney Goes Back To the Rodeo!
Man Who Set Record in 2004; Played Hurt in 2005's Plays Houston March 4

Greatest Hits II Out Now!

Houston: He set the attendance record in 2004… and played it on crutches in 2005… but since then., Kenny Chesney's high-flying tour schedule has made syncing up with the Houston Rodeo & Livestock Show an impossibility. This year - with no major concert tour in pre-production -- the man who's won 4 consecutive Academy of Country Music and 4 Country Music Entertainer of the Year Awards will return to the legendary Texas event ready to rock.

“You know, there are just some places that are sentimental favorites,” says the man from Luttrell, Tennessee, “The crowds are always so into it… and they're there for the music, they're there for the artists and they really get what we're trying to do. For a very long time, the Houston Rodeo was one of those places for me and the guys, so it's great that this year I don't have my foot on the gas quite so much, I'm able to go back and play it!”

Chesney, who is not mounting one of his major summer tours that's anchored by playing several stadiums around the country, is taking some time off from the pre-production and various rehearsals that go into creating a show the scope of his last several tours to focus on the final editing of “Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D,” the 3-D film that captures several NFL stadium stops on last year's Sun City Carnival Tour. His Greatest Hits II album is out now. In addition, he's working on the follow-up his introspective Lucky Old Sun with producer Buddy Cannon and developing a couple projects that will be announced later this year.

“I want to focus on the music… and this movie… and I don't believe you do all those things and do them well, not if you're going to do the kind of show that I try to do and give it that sort of concentration and time,” says the singer/songwriter of where his priorities are for 2010. “But anyone who thinks that I could just take a year off from my fans? That's crazy! I live to get out there and make music - and connect with the people who've made my music so much a part of their life, and have become such a big part of my life in the process.

“There's a real energy when we're out there on the stage. I can't live without that. So, being able to strip back… make it about me and the band… we're about to go back to some places we really love playing, but it hasn't fit - like the Houston Rodeo… and that's been one of the great things about how this year is turning out.”

Currently balancing time in the studio in Nashville with co-producer Buddy Cannon and being on a soundstage at Sony Studios, working on the editing of his 3-D movie, Chesney is excited about the new creative ground being covered - and looking forward to the upcoming shows.

“You know, 3-D is a whole other medium… and the way you look at the film, especially for a long form concert with as much energy as the Sun City Carnival had… really shifts the way I look at what we're doing onstage, I think it makes me look at songs differently, and I know it's charged me up for how to hit the stage this year. It can only make things more intense, more present… and I love that! Just like I love the chance to get back to Houston and the Rodeo & Livestock Show.”