All Kidding Aside, Kenny Chesney's Got Himself a True Foot Stomper

Rarely has a country son enticed me to hand clapping jubilation quite like studly Kenny Chesney's new "American Kids". The gang assembled in the video looked to be having the time of their lives. It rubs off on Kenny's performance. As many country masterpieces do Kenny's cut is loaded with star twinkled memories that only get better as the years pass. Also true in many country songs is their simplicity. Somebody took the bells and whistles and placed them on an exceedingly high shelf. All that's required is a solid hand clapping chorus and you're off to the races. Behold these pleasurable nuggets. "Mommy and Daddy put their roots right here 'cause this is where the car broke down". That's equivalent to the old saying "Wherever I lay my hat I call home." Kenny excels at rollicking in the silly jaunt down memory lane. It's exactly what those field trips are supposed to do...lift you up to where the gray skies can't drag you under. Classic early day MTV fans can delight in the RCA Kenny's highlighting. I personally am less jazzed about the no A/C in the vents part. I wouldn't have lasted three seconds in the pre air conditioning days. Anyway...returning to Kenny's eye-catching scrapbook. "Yellow dog school bus kickin' up red dust" is a fine traffic signal mishmash. I clearly remember the former from my early primary school days. The fun quotient jumps nicely when Kenny starts up stanza two his lead-in being "We were Jesus save me, blue jean baby, born in the USA". Fast forward your comprehension to "Growin' up in little pink houses (somewhere John Mellencamp just flashed that cat that ate the canary grin of his). Makin' out on living room couches. Blowin' that smoke on Saturday night. A little messed up but we're all alright." That last lyrical foursome is where this whole enterprise gets comfy cozy. This is hair hang down pickin, grinnin' jubilation if ever there was some. The banjo was and is a neat homespun touch. Ditto for Kenny's guitar playing. We were already drawn to this flame but Kenny proves he's excellent at stoking the fires. The only complaint I have about the video, and it's a relatively minor quibble, is that there's way too much short attention span flipping through the childlike merriment playbook. Maybe that's to indicate kids have that sort of bouncing off the walls energy. In any case for me it makes it hard to inhale the full scope of their bliss. Dig the bus though. Stanza three's feature is the classic trying to make it to second base motif. You never made it all the way home but you want your peer group thinking you scored more often than Germany during its Brazil beatdown. There's that image of a shotgun brandishing papa none too impressed with the boy your sister brought home. If passion plays a key role in artistry "American Kids" has enough passion to fill an entire summer full of rom-coms. "The Big Revival" from which this foot stompin' ear pleaser came is headed your way September 26th. "American Kids" definitely gets one's whistle whetted. Equal parts sass and heart tugging reminiscence you can't help but shake some part of you in time to the infectious rhythms. As ringmasters go Kenny knows his way around the center ring as if he's taken notes on every circus that came his way. Diligence paid off handsomely.