For the first time since 2001, country music star Kenny Chesney will not embark on a coast-to-coast national tour in 2014. The "Pirate Flag" singer is currently on his 2013 "No Shoes Nation" tour, but will pack up the live show once it comes to an end. He wants to focus on his new music.
"I love touring more than anyone in the world," Chesney explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I love the band, the crew, the whole team -- and it's weird to not be looking at next year's stage design, but I shouldn't make albums to service the tour. So I'm going to put the music first, dial it back and do the strangest thing in the world: not hit the road next summer."
"We have so much fun out there ... with the fans, the other bands ... It's summer camp with guitars and a great sound system," he said. "And when we hit that stage every night, and hear the crowd, that's the best drug in the world. How you take a year off from that is hard; but music is the reason I do all of it, so right now, when I'm coming off an album that took me places I didn't know I was gonna go, I think that's what I should be exploring."
Chesney is currently touring in support of his latest album, Life on a Rock, which topped Billbaord's 200 list. This was his seventh album to reach that mark. But he wants to focus on the follow up next year, instead of being busy on the road.
"You get to a point when you've made a lot of albums and you need to challenge yourself, to really make the record the focus, to ask yourself what you want to say ... and not just cut songs because they fit what people expect," he explained. "It's a lot harder to find those songs than you'd think, and writing takes time -- to think, to live, to be."
Will you miss Kenny's tour in 2014 or do you agree with the singer's decision?
