Kenny Chesney Launches 'Burn My Boat' Game
(EBM) For Kenny Chesney, who spent the last few years listening and writing, recording and sometimes re-recording songs to get to Silver Sands Marina, his 21st album was always seeking something more. Not just hit songs - with "Carry On," his 100th charting single, closing the country radio panel its first week, he proved he can do that - but songs that evoke the key of life.
Wanting cohesion between the songs, his eagerly anticipated Sept. 25th release evolved into eleven postcards from moments that crystalize all the emotions that make being alive so electric and real. Beyond the feelings, there are also the places, the people encountered and the vibe shared by all. To fill the void until the project - co-produced with longtime collaborator and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Cannon - Chesney and the team at HEY NOW Records have enlisted some very talented creators to deliver means of engagement that capture the beyond-words experiences these songs hold.
"Starting with 'Anything But Mine,' that summer vacation on the water has been a place where coming of age takes place," Chesney says. "It's a time of life, whether you're a kid with your parents, a teen or young adult on your own, you're meeting people, experiencing things, stamping those memories on your life with the things you do. Whether Asbury Park, Virginia Beach, the Gulf Coast or anywhere people have boats, there are arcades filled with people - and that's the most innocent fun you can have."
Tasked with catching that memory, the team at HEY NOW reached out to several creators with a task: essentialize "Burn My Boat," the album's opening song, in a way that reflects the freedom and arrival the song embodies. But even more, the instructions suggested: make it something people can play, be in the moment with while listening to the song that offers a true understanding of where you're meant to be.
What was delivered was a game, but even more. Suggesting the weightlessness of flying over water, the tall ship with the No Shoes Nation flag moves across the vast horizon and various locations across the Caribbean. For those who opt to "play" the game, clicking the clouds as the morning moves into night, the player fills the sails that carry the boat across the water. The faster one clicks, the further one travels - and the more places they land.
"It's not a perfect day at sea," laughs the East Tennessee songwriter/superstar, "but with the dolphins jumping, sea gulls flying, the sun moving through, it's a pretty great simulation. And if you hit all the places, you can sail 243 miles across 30 stops, which is a lot; but for people who love these kinds of challenges, it's going to keep some of my favorite places rolling out in front of you."
With singer/songwriters Lily Meola, Megan Moroney and Colbie Caillat as guests, and writers including Nashville's iconic Shane McAnally, Matraca Berg, Tia Sillers and Jessi Alexander, plus emerging powerhouses Jessie Jo Dillon, Adam Wright and Tenille Townes, Silver Sands Marina has all the positive vibes, good humor, long drives, specific places and moments that obliterate what pulls you down.
And now, while you wait, there's a game to play - and a live leaderboard to follow. Play it here
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