Kenny Chesney still has more than a month before his No Shoes Nation Tour kicks off at Raymond James Stadium on March 16, but he’s hard at work preparing to hit the road. He’s currently swamped in video footage for an even bigger video presence during his show while also making decisions on lighting designs. Beginning February 13, Kenny and his band members will report to an undisclosed location to begin tour rehearsals. “I used to say we’re like a baseball team: six months on, six months off, because I love baseball so much,” Kenny said. “But the truth is, what we do to create what people see from a show this size out there on the road really does take a lot of work, a lot of thought and a lot of practice. And the great thing about my crew is, they get as much a charge seeing the fans respond to what goes into all this work as the band and I do when we’re on stage.”

Kenny, who released his new single, “Pirate Flag,” on January 31, has been in edit bays and looking at lighting rigs since January in preparation for the tour. With the instant success of his new single, he’s that much more excited for his band to report to rehearsals next week.

“That’s when the music really starts happening, and everybody’s playing and catching up,” he said. “These are my brothers of the road, and we live to get out there and be a part of everybody’s summer! So when we’re working up the new songs – and ‘Pirate Flag’ is gonna rock – or maybe something people haven’t heard in a while, we’re already imagining how the fans are gonna respond!”

Kenny is always about his fans. His ultimate goal with every tour is to give them a show that they’ll remember. That’s one of the key components he takes into consideration while planning his next tour.

“The No Shoes Nation are the best music fans in the world – that’s why we named the tour after the fans!” he said. “They love these songs like they live their lives in ‘em, and we take that serious. They come out every summer and throw everything they got at us so hard, that’s why we rehearse – just the band – for a couple weeks before we even think about production! The music has to be right, so we’re gonna make sure we’re ready.”

The No Shoes Nation Tour kicks off March 16 at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James’ Stadium, home of the Buccaneers. His new album, Life On A Rock, will be released April 30.

Article via Great American Country