When Kenny Chesney released his album Here and Now last May, he had no idea that he wouldn’t be singing the tracks off of it in front of fans for a year and half.

While everyone was fully aware of the pandemic and the early stages of quarantine, Kenny, along with everyone else, couldn’t have fathomed that it wouldn’t be until 2022 before he’d be able to hit the road again for touring.

For Kenny, putting out an album is one thing, but it’s not really complete until he steps on stage to shares the new material with fans. Kenny says, “There’s something that happens when we bring the new songs out on the road. To me, that’s when an album is really finished. Once you play the songs, and get the chance to come together in the name of music.”

So, with time at home, and off the road, and with Here and Now not having the concert exposure it would have normally gotten, Kenny’s creative spirit started to turn and the desire to make new music arose, “Being home, writing with friends, recording with people who inspire you,” Kenny shares, “this time has taught me to really be in the moment, to share more music.”

That desire to share new music has resulted in Kenny creating the Here and Now Deluxe album.

Along with the existing 12 tracks, including “Happy Does,” “Knowing You,” and the number-one hit “Here and Now,” Kenny has added 4 new songs, “Wind On,” “Fields of Glory,” “My Anthem,” and “Streets.”

Talking about the new songs, Kenny says, “Some of these songs will spark an immediate hunger for things we all love; some of them I think people will think about for days and days after they hear them.”

With his recent announcement about waiting until next year to head back out to perform for fans, Kenny knew this was the time to release a deluxe edition of Here and Now, “With so much still unsettled, I didn’t want to wait any more to share them.”

While the pre-ordering starts today, Friday March 26th — which also happens to be Kenny’s birthday — Here and Now Deluxe arrives for fans on May 7th.

Of course as fans are excited to hear the new music, they are also loving Kenny new single he just released to country radio, “Knowing You.”

Talking about the powerful track, Kenny says, “This isn’t about death, or losing someone to the other side…It can be a lover who’s left or group of friends who came together, dreamed together, then went off to chase those things. You may never be together again, but that moment – no matter where you are – you can close your eyes and remember everything about the people, the places, the joy comes right back. Those people, those experiences change you. You’re better for them if you’ll see them for what they were and how they made you better. So I’m really happy to know that what I heard when I first heard the demo is how other people are feeling whether they see the video, stream it somewhere or hear it on radio.”

Talking about the video for “Knowing You” Kenny says, “One of the things about this video I love is the way you can feel the settings, and each location – whether in Gloucester, Mass. or the Virgin Islands — was selected because it feels the way these emotions actually feel. As I’ve said, over and over lately, the people who come into your life and then are gone, it’s for any number of reasons. But beyond missing them, you have the opportunity to recognize what they brought to your life and be thankful.”

He also adds, “With all the visual ways people get information, it felt like this was a nice way to give people a taste of what’s to come… to let them see and feel everything this song holds, so that they could tell this song and this video is something more.”

Photo Credit: Allister Ann

Additional Photos Courtesy of Warner Music Nashville