When Kenny Chesney rolled into Las Vegas to celebrate the 4th
Anniversary of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s state of the art
concert room The Joint – which Chesney had joined legendary Paul
McCartney, Bon Jovi and the Killers for their opening run of shows – he
wanted to do something special to mark the event. Beyond scaling his
stadium-sized show to fit in the most intimate room his tour will play,
one with site lines being no more than 300 feet from the stage, the high
energy performer knew it was going to take a little something more to
dazzle the crowd used to having the best of everything.

Enter Grace Potter, the soul-roots-rocker who joined him for the
Grammy nominated Vocal Duet “You & Tequila.” With a rare break in
her vigorous touring schedule, the “Paris (Oooh La La)” singer and VH-1
Diva popped into Vegas for the second night of Chesney’s sold-out two
night stand April 19-20 and performed a sultry “Wild Horses,” a
hard-hitting take on “Legs,” as well as “Stars,” a song Chesney produced
on the Nocturnals’ The Lion The Beast the Beat.

“When Grace said she could come, I was fired up,” Chesney says. “I
try to have an open door policy for my friends who play to come and sit
in. But Grace is such a powerful musician and singer, to be able to have
her do more than just our duet is a treat. In a place like the Joint,
especially, what she does really shines – and I love being able to turn
people onto that kind of playing.”

Chesney was marking his sixth and seventh appearance at the Joint, a
venue he regards “as one of the best concert-going experiences you can
have.” For the man who’s played many of America’s most legendary rooms,
biggest stadiums and various beaches, to be able to find an intimate
club that allows him to do what he does is the ultimate treat in a
summer tour that includes 19 stadiums, several arenas and a few open air
amphitheaters.

With Potter having already popped up at his Orange Beach, Alabama
show – along with Sammy Hagar and Emeril Lagasse – and Mac McAnally
joining Chesney onstage at the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale
to sneak debut “Must Be Something I Missed,” a track from Chesney’s
4/30 release Life On A Rock, you never know who may walk out on that
stage.

“That’s the thing about music,” Chesney explains. ”You want to keep
it vital, to play different kinds of places and with all sorts of
players. Music should bring people together, it should remind you what’s
great about being alive – and when I can make music with friends like
Grace or Steve Miller or the Wailers, that’s what keeps my music so
alive…”

With the No Shoes Nation Tour on the road through the end of August,
when it hits Gillette Stadium in Foxboro for a two night stand August
23-24, a new album coming and “Pirate Flag” riding high, it looks like a
big summer.