Kenny Chesney Appreciates the Work

Kenny Chesney and George Strait at rehearsals for the 43rd Annual ACM Awards Show in Las Vegas. Photo provided by the Academy of Country Music.

Aug. 29, 2008 — Kenny Chesney’s entertainment career might seem glamorous, but he puts in an enormous number of hours finding and recording the songs, plotting the staging and hitting the road. And since he’s gotten into producing other artists on top of it all, he’s quite the busy guy.

Kenny came from working-class roots in East Tennessee, so when he and George Strait teamed up on this year’s hit "Shiftwork," he knew the drill. And as he considers the Labor Day weekend, Kenny doesn’t think his job as a performer is all that more important than the nine-to-five occupations of the people who pay to see him.

"I have an uncle who makes cabinets and works in wood for a living," he told Dial-Global. "He don't care a bit about what I do, 'cause whatever I do, it ain't gonna change his life one bit, you know, and I know that. So when I'm away from this, that's my family, that's my friends. I just so happen to have this wonderful career doin' what I do, and I've been afforded this wonderful life. And yeah, I've got a boat. And no, I don't go in to work every day at nine o'clock and get off at three, but my family does, and I used to and a lot of my fans do. I can see that from the stage."

While it’s a three-day weekend for much of the nation, Kenny won’t mind singing for the working men and women when he plays Friday in Tampa and Saturday in Jacksonville. Joining him on those dates is someone else with a blue-collar background: Miranda Lambert.