Whoa, dude, makes me feel kind of old that Randy Travis has been making music for 25 years because I remember so well when he first arrived on the scene.  He’s the guy who made country cool again, at least to me.  So to celebrate 25 years in the business, Randy is picking up the phone and basically calling whoever he wants to ask them to duet with him.  The album, due out early next year, will feature Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner, Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, John Anderson and Carrie Underwood, and that’s just so far.  More will probably join up in the next few months, and I guarantee you it will be super cool.

Not a lot of country singers other than good old Willie would ever admit that, but let me explain:  Kenny has a new song called “Reality” that is all about escaping reality.  The idea for the song came to him when he was high….in the dentist’s chair.  (Sorry, you know I couldn’t resist dragging that one out).  So there he was, with the gas mask on, relaxing for the first time in years….I’ll let him finish the story: 

“They’d put that gas mask on me and I’d be like, ‘Wow, that’s as relaxed as I’ve been in years!’ I thought to myself, ‘This is why people smoke pot right here! This is it!’ I don’t smoke pot, but this is why people do it, I guarantee you. Because it gets them away from reality. I even asked my dentist, ‘I just want to come over here and sit some time, can you guys do that?’ He said, ‘We can’t do that, we’d get in trouble.’ I swear, I started writing that song on the way home. But then I related it to everybody that comes to see us. That’s what live music is. It’s an escape from reality. That’s why as a kid I loved it. I still love going to shows, I love live music. That’s where I got the idea to write the song, it’s my message to the fans that it’s OK to break free and escape reality, with us.”

I can’t think of a more perfect woman for Kenny Chesney than this one:

Her name is Jenn Brown.  She’s not only drop dead hot, she’s also smart (graduated with honors from college), athletic (played 7 sports in high school), and last but not least, she loves football so much she’s become a correspondent on ESPN.  Seriously.  This woman’s “got it all,” as the song would say.  And Star Magazine, which is usually not a very reliable source, has some real and undeniable pics of Kenny and Jenn getting cozy together in Mexico. 

You have to buy the magazine to see the juicier ones.

But here’s the part of the story I’m not too sure about.  Supposedly, Kenny is still dating Amy Colley, the former Miss Tennessee/nurse he started seeing a few years ago.  Star says that Amy is “livid” and considers this a “slap in the face.”  But how do we know they are still dating?  They were always very private, and we haven’t really seen them together at all lately.  I’d be surprised if Kenny was dumb enough to take a holiday with another woman and think that no photos would surface…the guy is followed wherever he goes.  So I think it’s safe to say he had a swell time in Mexico with his potential dream girl, but the cheatin’ part is questionable.

Yep.  It’s Kenny Chesney’s video for “The Boys of Fall,” which is of course about football, so it makes sense that there would be a sports connection.  You can catch your first glimpse of the video on ESPN at noon on Monday.  Then there’s also an 8 minute film that Kenny made featuring interviews with a bunch of football stars that will debut on Tuesday.

Forbes magazine released their annual Celebrity 100 list, which rates famous people based on their earnings, how much they’re in the public eye, etc.  This year, the highest ranking country star by far is Taylor Swift.  Not only did she pull in about 45 million bucks, Forbes says she’s one of the few music acts who can still actually sell music.  Kenny Chesney is the next country star on the list, but he’s slipped from #31 last year to #54 this year.  Forbes says Kenny makes about $1.6 million per show, which is almost double his closest $-per-show competition, Keith Urban.  Rascal Flatts also make the list at #62, Toby Keith’s at #67 and Keith Urban clocks in at #76.  See the full list here.

So here’s something nice that’s gotten all screwed up:  Jimmy Buffett has organized a big, free benefit for the Gulf Coast in Alabama on July 1st.  Guests include Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band.  Free benefit, you ask?  How could that benefit anyone?  The idea is to bring people and attention to an area that needs business right now, and also to bring a night of entertainment to people who have had a rough few months due to the oil spill.  So here’s the problem:  Of course scalpers scooped up many of those free tickets, and immediately turned around and put them up on eBay for upwards of  $600 each.  This made fans so mad that they contacted the governor of Alabama, who then contacted eBay.  In an unusual move, eBay has agreed to block the sale of tickets to this show on their site, because they agree that it’s lame for scalpers to benefit from something that’s meant to help the Gulf region.

Kenny Chesney’s dad is on the school board in his Tennessee town, and this week a school maintenance worker filed a lawsuit against Dave Chesney to the tune of $45o,ooo.  For what?  Slander.  This guy Darrel Johnson says that Dave was going around telling people that he, Darrel, had a big criminal record and lots of felonies.  Johnson says he has no criminal record, and says that Dave needs to stop saying what he is allegedly saying.  No word yet from the Chesney side, but I always have to wonder in this case if someone isn’t just seeing dollar signs when they see that Chesney name….but what do I know?

Kenny tweeted this pic from his home in Nashville!  It has affected so many people in the area, many losing everything.  If you would like to help out the fine people of Nashville you can make a small donation by clicking here! Thanks!

Kenny Chesney made it home to Nashville this week to find his house severely flooded.  Check out the before and after pics here.  Take a look at the stairway up to the second story in this photo:

That’s the same staircase he’s standing on in this pic:

Yikes.  Kenny talks about it all and shows us some video via CNN last night: