Willie Nelson Calms Kenny Chesney's Heart

Kenny Chesney photo courtesy of Sony BMG Nashville.

June 3, 2008 — Kenny Chesney produced Willie Nelson’s latest album, "Moment Of Forever," and it turned into quite a significant event. Not only did it turn a few heads, it also changed Kenny’s heart.

"When I was looking for inspiration in my life, God gave me Willie Nelson," Kenny told The San Francisco Chronicle. "I left that whole session with a new commitment to being a better songwriter and a better person. It was just a great thing for me in my life."

That development came at an interesting time. The album was released at the end of January, just two months before Kenny turned 40. But heading into that milestone birthday, Kenny was having a hard time dealing with his past.

"When I produced that record for Willie, I was probably in the biggest personal funk of my life," Kenny said. "Nothing inspired me. I don’t mind telling you, after my divorce with Renee, I was completely uninspired. God could have laid the best song in front of me, and I wouldn’t have known. I sat there with Willie Nelson the first day and realized all that was going to change."

One of the places where it might have the most obvious impact comes with Kenny’s music. He finds himself at a huge commercial peak, packing stadiums at a time when almost no one else is doing it, and having recorded more consecutive Top 10 hits this decade than any other artist. And he’s been named Entertainer of the Year by the Academy of Country Music four years in a row. But after working with Willie, Kenny’s likely to make some changes.

"I’m working on a record now, and I am feeling just a touch of an artistic shift, just a little bit, because of it," he noted. "You can’t spend that much time with the guy and make the record we made and not feel something as an artist. I don’t know how to define it or put my finger on it yet. I can’t tell you how I feel a shift as an artist, but I know I do. It’s going to be interesting to see how this record comes out and what’s on it, which is a good thing."

San Francisoc’s AT&T Park — the former home of Barry Bonds — is the next stadium date on Kenny’s summer schedule, though Country Music Association ads touting "a big surprise" on two nights of this week’s CMA Music Festival have prompted some speculation he might be playing LP Field in Nashville later this week. The surprises are slated for Thursday and Friday, but he’s already booked for Las Vegas June 6, meaning if he’s an unannounced CMA Fest performer, it would have to be Thursday. Kenny is already booked to play LP Field July 5, and contracts typically bar a performer from announcing competing dates in a market in a specific time frame. Keith Urban, LeAnn Rimes and Gary Allan — his supporting acts in July — are also absent from the CMA Fest stadium roster.