STRAIGHT FROM HIS MOUTH

"We go all kinds of places… but when you walk out onto the Opry stage, there's just this rush of energy that surges up at you. You can feel the spirits of all those great artists who've stood there before you, the ones who pavedthe way, broke the rules, really made this music what it is. It's a little scary, but it's also -- I don't know -- it makes you feel like you're part of something much bigger."

"A Beach and a bottomless drink may not cure the problems of the world, but they sure can get your head in the right place!"

"I didn't really fully understand it until I started living on an island. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years down here. And you never really wanna go home."I love it."

"I love songs that take me away to a certain place in my life. It doesn't have to be a country song. The important thing is if the song makes you feel something."

"I tell you, being here - just helps me be me more. If I can be me more, I can be a better songwriter. I think that down here, I find myself painting more pictures with words than I did before."

"I think that's why people buy my records, because they can relate to the guy singing those songs They feel like the songs are about their lives, because they're about my life -- and I'm not all that different from them, even now."

"This is my island therapy. To come out here, bartend, tell some jokes, hang out with the locals ... I love it."

"I was drawn to that song because it's really a lot of my reality right now. All y'all know that I'm, I have a love affair with the tropics that I can't explain really, it's just the way it is and when you live down there are plenty of sunny days, there's no doubt about that.. but when the sun goes down, it's crazy when the sun goes down and we've been known to get out of our frame sometimes so I think the song definitely describes our reality down there."

"Somewhere in my family tree, I don't know maybe five, 10 generations back, who knows, there is somebody that loved the islands. And I got it," he said. "I got his genes or her genes, and I've had a love affair with the tropics."

"Talking to people, especially about the stuff that matters, can be hard. When you sing or listen to a song, it just opens up doors.Whether it`s something like `I Can`t Go There," which is about not being able to go places you love because the memories of what you lost are too strong."

"This is not where you buy your coke and popcorn and sit down and enjoy the show. You buy your popcorn and throw it on somebody." -Kenny Chesney on his live shows

"To me, everybody talks about what's country? Well, I think first and foremost, it`s about being true, singing about people really live their lives. And it can be some dumb little moment that maybe doesn`t seem like much, but is probably one of the moments that defines your life."

"There's something to be said for useless days. You know, those days when you have nothing to do and all day to do it ... Trust me, a beach and a bottomless drink may not cure the world's problems but it can really get your head in the right place.Those are my favorite kind of days."

"When people hear me, I hope they say, 'he is very genuine and not plastic.' I want to be remembered as a guy who cut some really great songs, wrote some really great songs...and was real."

"I love living my life in flip-flops," he says with a laugh. "I met a guy in the islands a while ago [who] told me he hadn't worn a pair of shoes in three years! I thought, 'Man, that's the life!' "

"It's hard to put my finger on it when I'm up there on stage, because I don't ... turn into this other guy, but in a way I do. I'm not the same Kenny as you're gonna see sittin' right here on this bus. I'm a different person for a couple of hours. I'm this guy that people see on TV, and really, I'm just a guy out there playing basketball. (laughs)."