David Lee Murphy Opens up About Recording With Kenny Chesney

The last time David Lee Murphy released an album as a country singer was in 2004 when he dropped Tryin’ to Get There. But thanks to Kenny Chesney, fans now have new music from Murphy for the first time in years.

On April 6, the singer, best known for his hit “Dust on the Bottle,” released No Zip Code, an album that was made possible thanks to a bit of prodding from Chesney.

“We actually talked about it one night. I’d just sent Kenny some songs for his album,” Murphy told CMT. “And I was sitting out on my back porch, and he was like, ‘I like these, but man, it’s been a few years. You oughta make a record. Why don’t you make another album?’”

“Down deep, I probably did want to make another record, but I’d just gotten so comfortable writing songs for other people,” he continued. “So when Kenny suggested it, it didn’t take me long to say yes.”

During his break from recording, Murphy enjoyed a very successful run as a songwriter for other artists, including Jason Aldean (“Big Green Tractor,” “I Break Everything I Touch,” “Lonesome USA”), Blake Shelton (“The More I Drink”), Jake Owen (“Anywhere With You”), and Chesney (“Live a Little,” “Living in Fast Forward,” “Bar at the End of the World”) and more.

While Murphy had certainly been approached about recording his own music again in the past, Chesney’s request felt different.

“I just always thought I wouldn’t do it again unless everything was just right,” said Murphy. “The fact that it was Kenny and Buddy Cannon made it just right. From start to finish. Kenny said, ‘We should make this record,’ and that was it.”

Murphy and Chesney have been friends since the mid-’90s when the pair each released their own debut album, and they brought that friendship full circle with a duet on Murphy’s new record, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.”

The song also serves as the lead single from the project and fits right into Chesney’s beach-friendly wheelhouse. Chesney co-produced the album along with Cannon, earning high praise from Murphy.

“Being a producer is a huge job. The producers have to do everything,” he said. “They get all the songs together. Then they record. Then they fine tune it all: How long is the intro? What’s the instrumentation? There are so many things that go into making music that you never even realize when you’re the listener.”

Purchase No Zip Code on iTunes.

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