Kenny Chesney’s new single, “American Kids,” has exploded across the airwaves since it shipped last Friday, becoming the hottest new song at country radio and shooting to the top of the iTunes Country Songs chart earlier this week with little more than two days of airplay! Kenny’s time off the road has obviously been well spent as he’s focused on making his upcoming album, which includes “American Kids,” and Kenny says that he felt like it was a song that was unique, but very universal in its message. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Pick up Kenny’s “American Kids” on iTunes!
• Kenny says that part of the appeal of “American Kids” is in the truth that we’re all a little messed up — and it’s okay! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• About the immediate response to “American Kids,” Kenny said in an announcement earlier this week, “I knew it was one of the freshest things in a long time when I heard it. And then I heard it on the radio, and I couldn’t believe how great it sounded! ‘American Kids’ sounded as freewheeling and free-spirited as the folks I’m singing about… and no matter how old you are, I promise, unless you were one of those kids who just didn’t like fun, you know just how alive this feels.”
• “American Kids” is the first single from Kenny’s upcoming album, co-produced by Kenny and longtime collaborator Buddy Cannon.

  Kenny Chesney talks about his new smash single, “American Kids.” (2:05)
“You know, I knew within the first 30 seconds of listening to ‘American Kids’ that it was something pretty different for me. The cadence and the phrasing of the lyrics and the way the melody wraps itself around those lyrics in the song… it just felt so unique, and I knew as soon as I heard it that it was a song that had the potential to be pretty special for those reasons. The song, to me, felt like it took its time building, and it’s got a lot of twists and turns to get to where it’s eventually gonna end up. But for me, that was all a part of the unique ride that this song and the journey that this song takes us all on. To me, the song ‘American Kids’ also says something very real, and it captures I believe the real essence of my audience, who I believe are very smart, they’re wild, they’re a lot of free spirits, and they love pushing the limits in their own life, and I see that every night when I go up on stage. I see in our audience a lot of heart, I see in our audience a lot of soul and passion, and I see a lot of people who play hard, I see a lot of people who love hard, and people who work hard to make ends meet. And I also see kids out there that are loving that time in their life, but they’re unsure of where their life is headed, and if they’re anything like me — and I think I see that from the stage — I believe that all these people lean on music to help them figure it all out. And to me, that’s what ‘American Kids’ is all about. It’s about who we are, how we grew up, how we’re growing up, the things that matter the most in our life. The more I listen to it, I believe that ‘American Kids’ is postcards from real life. You know, this song, we hear a lot of songs on the radio, and everybody’s tryin’ to turn it up louder than everybody else, right? So (laughs), that’s all well and good, I like…sometimes I crank it up with ‘em, but this song isn’t about fantasy, and it’s not a big party. I believe ‘American Kids’ is a song about life as it happens, and it’s a celebration of all the things that define us — a celebration of all the details that shape our lives and make us who we are.”

  Kenny Chesney says we’re all a little messed up, and that really is okay! (1:59)
“You know, my favorite line in the song ‘American Kids’ is ‘we’re a little messed up, but we’re all alright.’ And that line is…I mean, it defines me, it defines my audience, it defines No Shoes Nation, it defines my crazy road family, and I believe most of everyone can find a little bit of a common emotion in that phrase, ‘cause somehow we do all get through it. I think we all have things in our lives that aren’t perfect. We all have dysfunction in our family, we all have dysfunction in our relationships and our friendships, but somehow we find a way to all get through it, and it all…you know, as my grandmother says, ‘It all comes out in the wash sometimes’…you know, most of the time anyway, and I think that’s the beauty of this song because it says that’s okay. It says it’s okay to be a little screwed up but we’re all alright, you know, ‘cause we are. I mean, if you think about it, music is medicine in a lot of ways, and it’s one of the reasons we all love music so much because we are a little messed up, but somehow music makes us and it alright, and to me, this song has the ability to peel away a lot of layers in life, and I think when you peel away a lot of those layers, you find the truth. That’s what this song’s about – it’s a lot about truth, about how I grew up, about how I believe that a lot of people out there…especially if you grew up in a small town that you have these core values and these certain things that are very common in growing up like that. You know, I was the kid in this song. I was the guy that made out with his girlfriend in the Baptist church parking lot, who also went to football practice and maybe stretched the truth just a little bit about how far it went with the girl he was out with the past weekend. You know, and I think that happens all the time, and when I heard that in this song, I just shook my head and went, ‘You know what? This song is different.’ This song is touching on so many things that are relatable and how I grew up and how I believe my audience grew up and the people that come see us live every year, and for that reason, I think it’s got a chance to be really special.”