Billy Currington Gears Up for Long Awaited Gig

Billy Currington has scored one of the most coveted opening act slots in all of music, hitting the road with Kenny Chesney on the upcoming Goin' Coastal tour. While he is thrilled to be along for the ride, he admits he hoped the gig would have happened a long time ago.

"All these years, all my buddies -- Luke Bryan and this guy and that guy -- [got to tour with Kenny] ... I was like, 'Wait a minute, I started first,'" he laments to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. "I'm in awe of where [he] has taken his organization and success, and I just want to be a part of it."

Billy admits he's still trying to grasp what his good fortune means: performing for a lot more fans. "We're used to playing in front of 6,000 and 7,000, which is a lot for us now," he says. "We've definitely grown, but still when you hear 60,000 that he brings to the shows, it reminds you that you have a lot of work to do. All those people are country music fans, and I get a chance to gain those same fans."

Billy has paid his opening act dues on the road with several other multi-platinum-selling artists through the years. Most recently, he served as the opening act for Sugarland on their 2009 Love on the Inside tour, as well as Carrie Underwood's Play On tour, which wrapped up last December.

Billy will be joined this year by fellow opening act Uncle Kracker for the entire Kenny tour, as well as the Zac Brown Band for the stadium dates. They'll kick off the tour on Thursday (March 17) in West Palm Beach, Fla. See their schedule here.