How do you celebrate your 31st Country radio No. 1? If you’re Kenny Chesney, realizing the living-in-the-present “Here And Now” – hitting the top of the charts in a mere 19 weeks – sets a very high bar, the only thing to do is continue reinforcing the power of positive perception. In keeping with the notion that we can all use a little encouragement now and then, Chesney drops the lilting “Happy Does” as his next single.
“I don’t believe in preaching, and I sure don’t want to tell anyone how to live,” says the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar. “But right now, I think we can all use something to lift us up. ‘Here And Now’ did such a great job reminding everyone how good living in the moment can be, it felt like the only song that could follow it was ‘Happy Does.’”
Written by Brock Berryhill, Brad Clawson, Greylan James and Jamie Paulin, “Happy Does” considers a couple characters who aren’t living the baller life but are savoring every minute of their days right where they are. Embracing a late night quickstop cashier with a Marine Corps tattoo, who likes to tell his customers about the bands on the radio, and a young woman who opted to chase her musical dreams playing for tips in Boulder, both protagonists embody life not just lived, but loved on their own terms.
“That line about ‘every pickle jar dollar,’” Chesney marvels, “that was me in college, playing for tips in this little bar in West Virginia. I’d rent a pretty basic sound system, go over the line, set up, play three sets, tear down and drive home, so I could turn the stuff back in at the music store, go through the drive-in, get a breakfast sandwich and get on to class.
“To do what you love, to chase a dream is a really special thing. When you’re doing that, you find a whole lot of happiness with just a little bit of something. The chorus with the rope swing, the palm tree off the rearview mirror, a kiss from someone you love… With all this unknown and all this who knows, it felt like the song people were going to need this summer. The melody feels good, and the track makes you smile! So ‘Happy Does’ is a pretty good post-it note when you’re having a bad day, or even just a day.”
With Here And Now debuting atop the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, marking his ninth overall No. 1 debut and the most for any country artist, the man The Los Angeles Times called “the People’s Superstar” continues striving to create music that’s true to his heart and speaks to the reality of people living between the coasts. An eight-time Entertainer of the Year, Chesney anchors the No Shoes Nation, a community built around positive energy, good friends, loving life and music – and even with his 2020 tour postponed, NSN is still connecting in meaningful ways through the music he creates.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ebie McFarland / Essential Broadcast Media