“Bruce Set a Standard”: Kenny Chesney Reflects on the Lessons He Learned From Bruce Springsteen

Kenny Chesney is the latest guest to appear on the Bruce Springsteen Archives’ Conversation with Our Curator podcast series, with the ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’ hitmaker delving into his close friendship with Springsteen, as well as sharing how the ‘Nebraska’ legend has inspired his music over the years.

Anyone who listens to the soulful, evocative storytelling and galvanising, heartland-infused electric guitars that underpin Chesney anthems such as ‘Til It's Gone’, ‘The Big Revival’, ‘Reality’ and ‘I Go Back’ can hear Springsteen's influence sprinkled in.

It's no surprise that, when their paths have crossed over the years, Chesney and Springsteen have hit it off. When the former sat down to write his first ever book, HEART*LIFE*MUSIC, with his good friend, Holly Gleason, it became increasingly apparent just how deeply The Boss had touched the Knoxville native's life.

Such was the extent to which Springsteen had coloured Chesney's approach to both songwriting and performing, after a recent interview emerged during which Chesney paid homage to the rock legend, the official Springsteen Archives reached out to the country titan to set up a conversation around their impactful connection.

Now, that discussion has been released via YouTube, with the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music's Director of Curatorial Affairs and Director of Public History, Melissa Ziobro, hosting an insightful interview with Chesney.

The discussion spans a number of topics that have made it into the book, but Chesney also offers listeners a fascinating Springsteen-related anecdote that ended up being omitted.

The ‘Just To Say We Did’ singer-songwriter muses, “Well, one of the stories - it was a Bruce story, actually - that didn't make the book...It was 2005 and I was playing in Pittsburgh...We had a night off, and Bruce was playing by himself. It wasn't with the band, but it was at the University of Pittsburgh's basketball arena, and...me and my concert promoter, Louis Messina, and some friends went over to watch him”.

Chesney endearingly recalls how he was a little hesitant, at first, to approach his idol, “I didn't want to bug Bruce. You know, it was before the show. But he said he wanted to say hi, and we said a quick hello. He was sitting there doing a setlist, and I saw him doing the setlist. So I turned around to walk out the room, and something inside of me thought that he and I were close enough that I could make a request for the show. So I turned around and asked him to do ‘One Step Up’”.

‘One Step Up’, one of the many gems on Springsteen's 1987 album, Tunnel of Love, holds a special meaning for Chesney, as he recorded his own take as part of his No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems record in 2002. This project proved pivotal for Chesney, as it marked the start of his more island-inspired - and more authentic - era.

While chatting to Ziorbo, Chesney shares that he sent Springsteen a letter while crafting HEART*LIFE*MUSIC, expressing how much his music meant to him, “I got this wonderful letter back from Bruce saying, ‘Thank you for the care of the song’, and I still have it at my house. I wouldn't take anything for it, but that's why I wanted to hear that song. It was as if we had just a little bit of connection, you know? And so I couldn't believe that he did it, and he thanked me for asking him to do it when he got done. And that was a story that did not make the book”.

As for when Chesney's love of Springsteen was sparked, he emphasises that it didn't begin until later in his musical education, “Here's the thing. Growing up in East Tennessee, I didn't understand or know the genius of Bruce Springsteen, because it was much different than now. In our society today, we can all listen to whoever we want to, whenever we want to, with all the streaming services and the way we digest music today. So in East Tennessee, living with my grandmother, I didn't hear a lot of Bruce. Now, when I got to college, that's where I was introduced to the genius of Bruce Springsteen and his creative soul”.

He expands, “When I started to create my own music and go down this path...I didn't really understand that there were any parallels until later on, when I was well into my life on the road, and the more I got to learn about him and his journey, and especially being up there on-stage, and how much he gave and gives of himself. Not just some of himself, but all of it. That's the thing that struck me, because I've always felt like that's how that you should [do it]. Leave all of yourself up there, and that's the way I've always done things...Bruce set a standard and set a bar so high, it's hard to reach it. But I can tell you that I do feel like there are some parallels, as far as loving their audience...From the first note, everybody is in this together, and that really struck me. It's how we like to do things out here too”.

Over the past three decades or so, Chesney has become synonymous with his live-wire, electrifying shows - as was highlighted by the fact that he was recently the only country artist to make it into POLLSTAR's Top Ten Touring Artists of the Millennium.

This year, Chesney brought that stage presence and the feel-good atmosphere that permeates his set to Sphere Las Vegas, offering his loyal No Shoes Nation fanbase the opportunity to experience his uplifting, summery discography in a whole new light.

With Chesney returning in 2026, we're hoping we might one day get to witness the ‘Everything's Gonna Be Alright’ crooner link up with Springsteen on-stage for the first time. It's clear from this conversation that there is a mutual and deep-seated appreciation for one another, with each artist sharing an ability to energise, inspire and flit seamlessly between adjacent genres such as country, rock and soul.

Bruce undoubtedly set the pace for so many artists, and it's heartwarming to now see Chesney himself becoming the touchstone for swathes of up-and-coming country artists.

Watch the full conversation below:

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