Kenny Chesney Wants to Change How Women Are Depicted in Country Music
This week's Billboard magazine features a cover story on Kenny Chesney, whose newest album The Big Revival debuted at No 1. last month. Although he's solidly at the top of the crop in terms of male country voices, the laid-back star has some strong words when it comes to the current debate over how women are depicted in country music songs.
"Over the last several years, it seems like anytime anybody sings about a woman, she's in cutoff jeans, drinking and on a tailgate — they objectify the hell out of them," Chesney told Billboard.
Some may consider such remarks hypocritical of Chesney, who was one of the first artists to build a career — and multimillion-dollar touring business — on songs about good times, beaches, beer, tans, etc. ... in other words, themes that are strongly associated with the oft-criticized “bro-country” trend in country music today.
And while he admits as much in the Billboard article, he's changing his tune on the subject. "Twenty years ago, I might have written a song like that," the 46-year-old singer says. "I probably did. But I'm at a point where I want to say something different about women."
One of those songs Chesney points to as an example? His new track called “Wild Child,” which he recorded with his good friend Grace Potter. He tells Billboard that the song depicts a more dimensional female than some of the stereotypes heard in music today.
We’ll see if more of boys in country music follow in Chesney’s footsteps. If anything, he'll be a good influence to a strong crowd of them on his "Big Revival" tour next year — It was announced this week that Eric Church, Jake Owen, Chase Rice, and Cole Swindell will be just some of the openers joining him on the road.
