Kenny Chesney

The first time I heard Van Halen was in my friend David Farmer’s garage. We’d had football practice, and I went over to his house after. His uncle was playing this music I’d never heard before, and I remember thinking, ‘What IS this?’ It made me want to move. It made me curious. It made the blood go through my veins a little quicker — and want to know more about where it came from. At my house, we’d heard a lot of country music, and whatever my mom and Aunt Sharon were listening to. But this was something very different. The tone of Eddie’s guitar, the way he played… the way the whole band played. It hit a sweet spot in me that never left. I didn’t know that I’d grow up and make music for a living, but I knew whatever I did, this would be part of it. Raw talent and hard work...