Just under one year after releasing his album Here and Now, Kenny Chesney has announced a deluxe version of the project, which will arrive on May 7 with four new songs. In a statement, Chesney told fans that if they “love” the original album, “we’re making it even a little bit more special.”
“Being home, writing with friends, recording with people who inspire you, this time has taught me to really be in the moment, to share more music,” he shared. “Some of these songs will spark an immediate hunger for things we all love; some of them I think people will think about for days and days after they hear them. With so much still unsettled, I didn’t want to wait any more to share them.”
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Here and Now Deluxe‘s four new songs include “Wind On,” written by David Lee Murphy and Rodney Clawson, “Fields of Glory” from Josh Osborne, Ashley Gorley and Ross Copperman, “My Anthem,” written by Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally and Jason Gantt and “Streets,” which Chesney co-wrote with Tom Douglas. Pre-orders for the deluxe album begin on Friday, March 26.
The original Here and Now was released on May 1, 2020 and features the No. 1 singles “Happy Does” and “Here and Now.” Chesney’s current single is the reflective “Knowing You.” “There’s something that happens when we bring the new songs out on the road,” he said. “To me, that’s when an album is really finished. Once you play the songs, and get the chance to come together in the name of music.”
Here and Now was scheduled to arrive shortly after Chesney began his Chillaxification Tour, which was originally scheduled to start in April 2020 but has now been moved to 2022. The trek will have a new name, new opening acts and new songs in its set list.
“We have waited, and we have hoped… Talked to medical experts, stadium people, local officials across the country,” Chesney told fans in a message on social media. “I hate what I’m about to tell you. With all the progress being made around the pandemic, there is still too much unknown.”
“I have held on all these months, thinking I was going to get to see your faces soon,” he shared. “On bad days, that thought made me smile, gave me patience, inspired me to be my better self. Seeing your faces, though, reminds me of what I sad when we postponed last year: I won’t take chances with people I love. I also don’t want to come out there after all this time and not deliver the best show I ever have to all of you! If I can’t give you more than you expect, it feels like I’m letting you down. And I’d rather let me down than any of you.”
