Kenny Chesney announced that he will release his 17th studio album, Songs for the Saints, on July 27.
The catalyst for the new 12-song offering was Hurricane Irma, which devastated a number of Caribbean islands in September 2017, including Kenny’s home on St. John.
“I was at a turning point in my life on so many levels, and then Hurricane Irma hit the Virgin Islands,” says Kenny. “But this album isn’t about St. John, so much as it’s about what happened to St. John and all those islands you didn’t see on the news. To just see the devastation and what that does to people is one thing, but then there’s this courage and resilience people find . . . This is not a literal record, but it is an album about the refuges we all have, how temporary life is and the way we navigate to better places, dig in and face the destruction. And sometimes, we learn to own our wild hearts in the process.”
Kenny wrote or co-wrote five songs on the album, which he co-produced with Buddy Cannon. Kenny dropped the album’s uplifting lead single, “Get Along,” on April 6. Penned by Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman and Josh Osborne, the mid-tempo tune beckons listeners to live the Kenny lifestyle with lyrics like “buy a boat, drink a beer, sing a song, make a friend.”
“I feel like I know what this album’s supposed to be, and I know how much it means to me,” Kenny says. “I wanted to get it just right, before we set a release date . . . and I think we’ve got it. I’m just glad we’ll have it out in time for me to play some of these songs this summer before the Trip Around the Sun Tour is over.”
Kenny kicked off his Trip Around the Sun Tour on April 21. It caps in August after making stops in Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Seattle, Nashville and more.
