Kenny Chesney has christened his next studio album "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates," for which a release date has yet to be announced. The country star is putting the finishing touches on the project during days off from his ongoing Flip-Flop summer tour.
However, first single "Never Wanted Nothing More" was released to radio earlier this week and garnered enough airplay to earn Hot Shot Debut honors at No. 37 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
"To me, it's the pirates living in plain seat who, in some ways, are the greatest ones of all," Chesney says of the album title. "You know, they're living the normal life, but when they get away from that, their souls are just as free as anybody's."
"Just Who I Am" is the follow-up to 2005's "The Road and the Radio," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and Billboard's Hot Country Albums chart.
Chesney plays Columbus, Ohio, tonight (June 7) and has dates on tap through a Sept. 7-8 stand in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Chesney's guest appearance on Tracy Lawrence's "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" is causing controversy on country radio. The cut, as well as a version without the vocals of Chesney and Tim McGraw that was serviced as a single last fall, appears on Lawrence's recent Rocky Comfort album "For the Love."
Sony BMG had sent a cease-and-desist to radio stations demanding they stop playing the Chesney version of the cut, but today softened its stance and apologized for the wording of the original statement.
"We should not have involved radio in trying to resolve our issues with a third party that violated its agreement with us," the new letter says. "We value our relationship with radio. This was a distraction and waste of your valuable time. Again, we apologize."
Joel Burke, program director for country station KYGO in Denver told Billboard sister publication Radio & Records that he'll continue to play the album version. "I'm not a legal expert, but I don't think anybody can tell us what album cut we can or cannot play," he said. "It's available out there for public consumption, and if I choose to play cut nine off an album that I think is going to work for our radio station, I'm going to play it."
A spokesman for Lawrence told Billboard.com that the singer has no comment regarding the situation.
Additional reporting by Ken Tucker, Nashville.
However, first single "Never Wanted Nothing More" was released to radio earlier this week and garnered enough airplay to earn Hot Shot Debut honors at No. 37 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
"To me, it's the pirates living in plain seat who, in some ways, are the greatest ones of all," Chesney says of the album title. "You know, they're living the normal life, but when they get away from that, their souls are just as free as anybody's."
"Just Who I Am" is the follow-up to 2005's "The Road and the Radio," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and Billboard's Hot Country Albums chart.
Chesney plays Columbus, Ohio, tonight (June 7) and has dates on tap through a Sept. 7-8 stand in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Chesney's guest appearance on Tracy Lawrence's "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" is causing controversy on country radio. The cut, as well as a version without the vocals of Chesney and Tim McGraw that was serviced as a single last fall, appears on Lawrence's recent Rocky Comfort album "For the Love."
Sony BMG had sent a cease-and-desist to radio stations demanding they stop playing the Chesney version of the cut, but today softened its stance and apologized for the wording of the original statement.
"We should not have involved radio in trying to resolve our issues with a third party that violated its agreement with us," the new letter says. "We value our relationship with radio. This was a distraction and waste of your valuable time. Again, we apologize."
Joel Burke, program director for country station KYGO in Denver told Billboard sister publication Radio & Records that he'll continue to play the album version. "I'm not a legal expert, but I don't think anybody can tell us what album cut we can or cannot play," he said. "It's available out there for public consumption, and if I choose to play cut nine off an album that I think is going to work for our radio station, I'm going to play it."
A spokesman for Lawrence told Billboard.com that the singer has no comment regarding the situation.
Additional reporting by Ken Tucker, Nashville.
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