| | Issue #21.17 :: 04/23/2008 - 04/29/2008 | The King of Country
Kenny Chesney at Williams-Brice
| BY KEVIN OLIVER
| Kenny Chesney
Williams-Brice Stadium: Saturday, April 26
Even with Garth Brooks halfway out of retirement, there’s little argument that Kenny Chesney is the most popular country music artist of the past decade. His 2007 stadium tour was the top-grossing show of the year, and he stands poised to accomplish a similar feat with this season’s Poets and Pirates stadium-tour extravaganza.
Chesney got a late start compared to current scene darlings such as 17-year-old Taylor Swift. It wasn’t until attending East Tennessee State University that he even learned to play guitar, and his first album — In My Wildest Dreams, released in 1993 on the short-lived country division of Capricorn Records — barely made a dent in Billboard’s country charts. Since then, however, his career arc has been a steadily rising curve. 1996’s Me and You was his first gold-certified album, mostly on the strength of a pair of No. 2-charting singles: the title track and “When I Close My Eyes.”
“She’s Got It All,” from 1997’s I Will Stand, became his first chart-topper song, though certainly not his last. Other No. 1 tunes from the ‘90s include “How Forever Feels” and “You Had Me from Hello,” though his best-known song from this period, “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” only hit No. 11.
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| Kenny Chesney |
Since the turn of the century, the Chesney hit express has been unstoppable, and the awards and accolades have followed suit. He has been named the Entertainer of the Year several years in a row by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, and the first single from last fall’s Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates album, “Never Wanted Nothing More,” became his 12th No. 1 single on the Billboard country charts.
With a track record like that comes the ability to put on a really big show, and Chesney doesn’t disappoint. This year’s country caravan is much like the package tours of yesteryear, featuring a batch of recognizable names in the support slots who could headline on their own in smaller venues.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are the biggest-selling duo in country music history, with a chest of hits and awards even fuller than Chesney’s. The duo is touring in support of 2007’s Cowboy Town and the single “Proud of the House We Built,” their 38th Billboard Hot Country chart-topper.
LeAnn Rimes has come a long way from her beginnings as a child prodigy, though it is hard to think of her as a veteran when she’s not yet out of her 20s. Her recent resurgence has seen her snag two nominations for the upcoming ACM awards, including Top Female Vocalist.
Gary Allan has parlayed a Roy Orbison-esque croon and a penchant for ‘50s-era guitar sounds into a reputation for retro-cool tunes and a fair amount of hits. His most recent album, Living Hard, contained the song “Watching Airplanes,” which hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Country chart and dented the Hot 100 and Pop 100.
Luke Bryan is the new kid on this block of country stars; his 2007 album I’ll Stay Me spawned the hit single “All My Friends Say.”
The most excited artist of the night will probably be the opening act, which will be a local performer chosen as part of a Next Big Star competition held the night prior (7 p.m., Friday, April 25) to the concert in South Carolina State Fairgrounds. Four nominees were chosen from submissions to WCOS, and those four —John Michaels, David Cooler, Barry Brown and the band Woodwork Roadshow — will play a battle of the bands to determine which of them will play a 15-minute opening set inside the stadium the night of the concert. They’ll also be eligible for the grand prize, which includes traveling by tour bus to open the final weekend of Chesney’s stadium shows, $25,000 in cash and an audition with Sony BMG.
There’s also a Pirate Island pre-party for ticketholders beginning at noon on the fairgrounds, which will feature country crooners Jeff Bates, Barry Brown, Jamie Pelfrey and The Killing Time Band as well as food, drinks and mechanical bull-riding and cattle-roping.
If you can’t find Williams-Brice Stadium ... you have bigger problems than Free Times can help you with. Gates open at 2:30 p.m., with the concert beginning at 4 p.m. Tickets — if you can score them — range from $15 (nosebleed seats) to $89.50 (ear-bleed seats). For tickets and more information, call 1-866-472-8499 or visit thecolonialcenter.com | |
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