Kenny Chesney Admits He Feels ‘a Little Lost’ Not Being Able to Tour

Kenny Chesney was supposed to kick off his Chillaxification Tour in April, but the trek is currently pushed back to a May 30 start due to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to Kix Brooks on American Country Countdown, Chesney admitted that not being able to take his music on the road is an unusual situation for both himself and his band.

“I truly do miss [touring],” Chesney said. “You know, this is the time of year where we’re all real busy, and there’s a great new energy of starting another tour, and going down the highway with all of your road family, and seeing your fans that care about this music. Right now, we’ve been forced to not do that, and it feels strange. I think the fans — and I think I speak for my whole road family when I say, ‘We feel a little lost.’ But, we’re cautiously optimistic…but, I’m not gonna lie to you, we all feel a little strange and a little lost because this is the time of year where we get to celebrate music and celebrate our love for one another, and that’s how we look at it, and we don’t get to do that right now.”

The first show of Chesney’s tour is now scheduled for May 30 in Pittsburgh, but Pennsylvania is currently in a multi-phase reopening plan that affects each county separately. “I think we’re cautiously optimistic — but like I said, cautiously — about playing music this year,” the singer recently told the Tennessean. “But honestly, we play a lot of the venues that the NFL play. We’re just kind of watching what happens with that, and we’ll see.” Chesney released his newest album, Here and Now, on May 1, and he told Taste of Country Nights that the title track now has a new significance.

“I knew that I was looking for a specific energy for me to stand up there on stage and what I wanted to say to my audience, you know, with this new music,” he said. “I knew it was a contradiction of myself because I’m constantly moving. I crave living in the here and now and I know it’s important. It’s what this time right now has really, really … it’s been good for all of us that are busy that want to be still, because now we’re forced to be still. And it’s forcing us to live in the here and now.”