“The Best Year We've Ever Had”: Kenny Chesney Pays Tribute to His Team After They Receive 17 CMA Touring Nominations

Often, when we attend and celebrate the biggest concerts of the year, we tend to primarily think of the superstars at the front of the stage that all the spotlights were trained on.

Off the back of his 2024 Sun Goes Down run receiving 17 CMA Touring Nominations, however, Kenny Chesney has endearingly made a point of praising all the people that have been involved in creating, producing and promoting his recent shows.

Kenny Chesney jokingly recalled the moment he heard about the nominations, “When they called me to tell me the news, I felt like a bit of slacker. I love my guys and the girls out on the road, in the office and points in between. They fire me up, inspire me to push what we do – and this year was easily the best year we’ve ever had on the road”.

The ‘Take Me Home’ hitmaker went on, “Whether it’s Terry Ford driving the Knoxville bus, Nick Buda beating those drums, Tom Petty’s incredible Robert Scovill mixing front of house or Rock & Roll legend Robin Majors as Unsung Hero, everybody out there gives to the peak, then throws it all at the music when we take the stage. I’ve got lifers like my longtime manager Clint Higham, who’s been here for all of it, my tour manager and best friend growing up David Farmer and who-says-we-can’t? production manager Ed Wannebo all making my crazy ideas happen”.

Chesney, who dropped his new album, BORN, in March, went on, “Back home, Mike Betterton at Wasser getting it booked, Richards & Southern making the t-shirts happen, and Janet Buck at Essential Broadcast Media getting the word out, that’s some anchor. Add in the Swiss Army knife Jill Trunnell, who hangs from stadium signs, as photographer, business manager Renee Allen who makes it all add up, Jay Cooper cutting all that live video together, Philip Ealy lighting so everyone can see – and our stage manager Tom Nisun, who not only came up with ‘Who lives like we do? We do,’ but runs a short order burger grill on the back of our stadium stages, we’re talking some pretty unbelievable people out there”.

The ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems’ figurehead concluded with a rousing mission statement about the spirit behind all his blockbuster tours, “We all work hard, play hard, dream hard and rock hard. It’s great seeing the people who push me, who create this very special environment with me and deliver night after night at the top of their game recognized. I can say ‘thank you’ over and over again, but when they’re acknowledged by the industry where they do this incredible work? To me, that’s the highest honor they can have. Seeing so many names of people who’ve helped build this? That tells you about the Sun Goes Down 2024 team”.

Over the past two decades, Kenny Chesney has become synonymous with his love for relaxed, beachside, island-inspired living, while simultaneously lacing his joyful, energised, ‘carpe-diem’ outlook on life into his music and his electric live performances.

The multiple Entertainer of the Year winner has always made it clear how much he appreciates his close-knit team, with Kenny Chesney speaking in the past about holding “merch lotteries” on tour, which sees one member of his road crew winning all the money earned from merchandise sales that evening. Kenny Chesney also takes his touring team on vacation after the conclusion of each run of shows.

Nonetheless, this latest tribute will no doubt still mean a considerable amount to the Sun Goes Down 2024 family, with fans now hoping these 2024 CMA Touring nods help to accelerate plans for another expansive, rip-roaring 2025 series of performances.

For the full list of Kenny Chesney's 2024 Sun Goes Down CMA Touring nominations, see below:

• Crew of the Year: Sun Goes Down Tour crew
• Backline Technician of the Year: Terry Fox
• Business Manager of the Year: Renee Allen, Arnie Barn, Inc.
• Coach/Truck Driver of the Year: Terry Ford
• FOH (Front of House) Engineer of the Year: Robert Scovill
• Lighting Director of the Year: Philip Ealy
• Manager of the Year: Clint Higham, Morris Higham Management
• Production Manager of the Year: Ed Wannebo
• Publicist of the Year: Janet Buck, Essential Broadcast Media
• Stage Manager of the Year: Tom Nisun
• Support Services Company of the Year: Richards & Southern
• Talent Agent of the Year: Mike Betterton, Wasserman Music
• Tour Manager of the Year: David Farmer
• Touring Musician of the Year: Nick Buda (drums)
• Tour Videographer/Photographer of the Year: Jill Trunnell
• Tour Video Director of the Year: Jay Cooper
• Unsung Hero of the Year: Robin Majors

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