For Immediate Release
23 February 2004
For More Information
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Wes Vause for BNA Nashville

He's Bad, He's Nationwide --
Kenny Chesney Graces The Cover of USA Weekend March 21

   Nashville, TN: Kenny Chesney's on a roll. Having debuted at #1 on
Billboard's Top 200 and Country Album charts with When The Sun Goes Down scanning
over 550,000 in its first week -- and in excess of 900,000 in two - and seeing
"There Goes My Life," the project's heart-tugging lead single, spend 7 weeks at
#1 on their Country Singles chart, even as his Unkle Kracker duet title track
hits #11 in three weeks, the reigning Academy of Country Music Top Male
Vocalist is taking the country by storm… And the good folks at USA Weekend, the
nationally-produced Sunday supplement for many major American daily newspapers,
has taken notice.

   Kenny Chesney's been tapped to be on the cover of USA Weekend's March
21st edition -- talking about the Caribbean, the road, the music, his dreams and
his commitment to making it all come true. Written by noted critic Alanna Nash
and shot by rock fave Tony Baker, it's one more way the man from Luttrell,
Tennessee, who's just wrapped a whirlwind 3-city-a-day promo tour with stops at
"Good Morning America," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and :Jimmy Kimmel,"
finds himself in living rooms coast-to-coast.

   "When you're from a small town, like I was raised in, USA Weekend is one
of those Sunday morning things you just remember… you know, that magazine
thing that's a lot slicker than your paper," says Chesney. "And they'd always have
these interesting people who were doing incredible things: actors,
scientists, astronauts, whatever. I'm not sure they're getting their money's worth with
me - 'cause I'm really pretty simple: the beach, the ocean, a couple
cocktails, my friends, maybe some football on Sunday afternoon -- but I sure was
flattered to be asked."

   The USA Weekend cover coincides with the opening weekend of Chesney's
Guitars, Tiki Bars + A Whole Lotta Love Tour, which kicks off March 17 in
Houston. The follow up to the #3 ticket-selling tour of 2003 -- behind Bruce
Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band -- will get a sweet send-off as "Roadcase: The
Movie," which takes you behind the scenes on the Margaritas'n'Senoritas Tour,
premieres in 32 Regal Cinemas nationwide and features two live acoustic
performances by Chesney March 8.

   "There's a lot going on with us right now," says the man being brought to
you by the pride of St. Croix Cruzan Rum. "And thank heavens for places like
USA Weekend, which lets me be in a lot of places at the same time. I'm trying
to keep up with the fans, to keep giving'em stuff they're gonna respond to and
see themselves in -- and this is one more way for me to get them inside where
this music on When The Sun Goes Down came from."

   Rolling Stone wrote "Chesney knows honky tonk. But he doesn't fret over
the tradition. He's too real for that." in a review subheadlined "Nashville's
own Jimmy Buffett gets a little deep," while The Los Angeles Times offered,
"he sticks to a heart-on-sleeve directness that makes his a characteristically
American voice" and The Tennessean opined, "This is Chesney's finest set of
songs…('Being Drunk's A Lot Like Lovin' You)'s melody, delivery and content
harken to days when Vern Gosdin, Keith Whitley and others sang real-deal country
about drinking and hurting."

   With four of When The Sun Goes Down's songs written by Chesney, this is
his most personal record yet. Not only is there the romping celebration of frat
house revelry (and Southeastern Conference college bar tour inspiring) "Keg
In The Closet" and the reflective island living and dreaming "Old Blue Chair,"
Chesney balances heartache with his classic country waltz "Being Drunk's A
Lot Like Loving You" and the songs-as-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives "I Go Back,"
which invokes John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane," the Steve Miller Band's
"Rockin' Me" and Billy Joel's "Only The Good Die Young" as it touchstones of his own
life like lightning bugs in mayonnaise jar with holes punched in the lid.

   And on March 21, you can read all about it the evolution from "giving it
a good football try" to soul searching superstar in USA Weekend.

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