Kenny Chesney was given some advice early in his career that has stayed with him to this day, “Smile.”
Kenny is one of the most recognized music artists in the world. According to Wikipedia at the time of the writing of this blog, he has released 62 singles of which 27 are #1 singles. Kenny has made 49 music videos and 16 studio albums. He has also released four compilation albums and one live album.
That is quite a career and he hasn’t stopped yet, so those numbers will increase. However, through it all he remembers a piece of advice he was given while recording his first album many years ago.
That first album was titled In My Wildest Dreams and was produced by Barry Beckett. It was Barry that shared something with Kenny that has stuck with him through his whole career.
“I’ll never forget it, he goes ‘just close your eyes and put a smile in it is all you’ve got to do’,” Kenny recalls.
The advice was simple in concept, but Barry added details as Kenny shares that he also said, “Picture this record really loud in some bar. Picture this record really loud in a live environment and picture them coming back to you, singing it back to you and just put a smile in it.”
Obviously Barry was wise enough to also make sure to caution the young new artist not to go too far with it. “Put some attitude, put some life, put some light into it, put some energy into it, but don’t over sing it,” Kenny continues about that sage advise, “Just put some smile into it, don’t be too harsh with it.”
That advice continues to guide Kenny all these years later as he admits, “I think about that in those moments those early days with Barry Beckett every time I get into the vocal booth, every time.”
When you consider the accomplishments of Kenny Chesney, that advice should be considered by all artists that are chasing their own musical dreams.
Kenny’s latest single “Bar At The End Of The World” puts a smile on my face every time I play it on B104. So Kenny, you not only kept to Barry’s advice, you have found a way to transfer that advice to fans listening to your music … well done.
By: Buck Stevens
