Hear Kenny Chesney’s Reflective New Song ‘Better Boat’ via Rolling Stone
Chesney’s recording of Travis Meadows and Liz Rose tune from ‘Songs for the Saints’ features Mindy Smith
By CHRIS PARTON
Kenny Chesney is joined by singer-songwriter Mindy Smith on the new song "Better Boat."
Kenny Chesney offers up a big-picture ballad about learning to overcome what gets you down in the new song “Better Boat,” the third track revealed from his upcoming Songs for the Saints album.
Written by Travis Meadows and Liz Rose and featuring background vocals from “Come to Jesus” singer Mindy Smith, the quiet tune also rings with gut-string guitar lines courtesy of perennial CMA Musician of the Year Mac McAnally. It’s all about finding positivity and inner strength in the face of adversity, and Chesney says the song’s philosophical theme perfectly captures the emotion of the months following Hurricane Irma, which devastated the U.S. and British Virgin Islands last fall.
“Now and then I let it go / I ride the waves I can’t control / I’m learning how to build a better boat,” he sings in the song’s chorus.
Chesney is back on the road this summer, taking his 2018 Trip Around the Sun Tour through stadiums and amphitheaters with the help of Thomas Rhett, Old Dominion and Brandon Lay. Songs for the Saints is scheduled for release on July 27th, and Chesney plans to donate all proceeds from album to his Love for Love City Foundation, which funds rebuilding projects across the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.