Kenny Chesney Says ‘Wild Child’ is the Opposite of Bro-Country

Kenny Chesney's song 'Wild Child,' from his No. 1 'The Big Revival' album, is his stand against the "bro-country" movement that seems to be taking over the airwaves. The tune, which reunites him with duet partner Grace Potter, allows Chesney to share a message that he thinks needs to be heard.

"Over the last several years, it seems like anytime anybody sings about a woman, she's in cutoff jeans, drinking and on a tailgate -- they objectify the hell out of them," Chesney tells Billboard. "Twenty years ago, I might have written a song like that -- I probably did. But I'm at a point where I want to say something different about women."

With lines like, "She's a wild child / Got a rebel soul with a whole lot of gypsy wild style / She can't be tied down but for a while / I'll be falling free and so in love / Might break my heart, but God she drives me wild child," the song, written by Chesney along with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally, succeeds. But it's only one of 11 tracks that the singer-songwriter says came out of taking time off to focus on his latest record.

“The whole point of taking the time to get to a really creative place was to have the room to look at not what we’d done, but where we wanted to go,” he explains. “After all this time, if I can’t push myself and give the fans something that inspires them, that gets them pumped up, there’s no reason to just make a record to make a record.”

Chesney, who stayed off the road for all of 2014, recently announced that he will hit the road again next year for his Big Revival Tour, which will kick off on his birthday (March 26), in Nashville, Tenn.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate,” he says. “I’ve been ready to get out there for a long time. Now that we’re announced, I’m fired up! This new music brings a new energy to the show, and it’s gonna take what we do to a whole other level.”

Chesney will rotate opening acts for his tour, with Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen, Cole Swindell and Chase Rice all joining him at various dates. Additionally, Jason Aldean will co-headline 10 stadium shows, and Eric Church will do the same for five concerts.

Download 'The Big Revival' here.