With the audio book underway, the final edits complete and the start of fall ahead, Country Music Hall of Fame 2025 electee Kenny Chesney knew he wanted to do something very special to launch his upcoming Heart Life Music. Tracing the path of a pretty regular kid living well beyond the lights of Knoxville, Tennessee, he decided to kick off his book tour at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, where his dream truly took wing, with a special event at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts on Saturday, November 1, at 3:00 pm.

Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, September 19, at 10 a.m., with a special presale opportunity for Friends of the Martin Center beginning Thursday, September 18, at 10 a.m. For details on becoming a Friend and gaining early ticket access, visit etsu.edu/martin-center/friends.php. Tickets and additional show information are available at ETSUMartinCenter.org.

“Having looked at my life in ways I never thought of,” says the man Wall Street Journal called “the King of the Road” about the process, “I realized: I’ve always loved sports, music and the sea. But the idea I’d chase this dream came together in Johnson City, trying to learn Doc Watson picking from Jack Tottle, playing Quarterbacks and Chuckey’s, and going to Russia with East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass Band.

“For me, going back to East Tennessee State University where all of this began was the only way to kick this book tour off. Hopefully, someone in the audience who’s wondering about their own dream might find what they need to get serious about whatever it is they’re chasing.”

Chesney will be joined by two-time LA Press Club Music Critic, friend and co-author Holly Gleason for freewheeling conversations to enrich reading Heart Life Music, anchoring the places book events will occur. Having found his voice delivering the experiences of coming of age and living life as fully as possible in the 21st Century, the songwriter/superstar wants each event to reflect his relationship with No Shoes Nation, the music and anyone trying to find inspiration to create their own place in the world.

Event Details

• Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, at 3:00 p.m.

• Location: ETSU Martin Center for the Arts – ETSU Foundation Grand Hall

• Tickets: On sale Friday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m. ET

• Bookseller: ETSU Bookstore

Known for commanding the largest stages nationwide, Heart Life Music ventures to places long gone, makes unexpected music in Jamaica, the Kremlin, New England and Cabo San Lucas, and drifts across the waters of the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Beyond meeting and collaborating with heroes, forging transcendent friendships in the islands and beyond, Chesney’s introspective look at the songs and sound that defined No Shoes Nation offers the intimacy of sharing a slow afternoon on the water.

About the Book

Heart Life Music

by Kenny Chesney with Holly Gleason

On Sale: Nov. 4, 2025 | William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Hardcover ISBN: 9780063423107 | $32.50

E-book ISBN: 9780063423114 | $14.99

Digital Audio ISBN: 9780063423121 | $27.99

About the Authors

One of contemporary American music's biggest names, Kenny Chesney was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year and was named Billboard’s No.1 Country Artist of the 21st Century. Selling out America’s major stadiums for two decades and playing to over a million fans every summer since 2002, Variety pronounced him “country music’s only true long-term stadium act.” The East Tennessee songwriter/superstar has over 105 platinum certifications, won the prestigious Entertainer of the Year eight times, and holds Billboard’s record for the most Country Airplay No. 1s with 36 chart-topping songs. This year, Chesney became the first country artist to perform at the groundbreaking Sphere, taking No Shoes Nation into a whole new dimension. Heart Life Music is his first book.

Holly Gleason’s work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Library of Congress’ National Registry of Sound Recordings. She was named LA Press Club’s Entertainment Journalist of the Year and the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Association’s Independent Journalist of the Year. A Belmont Book Award winner for Woman Walk The Line, Gleason has co-authored Miranda Lambert’s Y’all Eat Yet and Prine on Prine: Interviews & Encounters.

For more about the Martin Center or to purchase tickets, visit ETSUMartinCenter.org or call the Martin Center box office at (423) 439-2787.

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About the Martin Center for the Arts: The 93,000 square foot ETSU Martin Center for the Arts, located at 1320 W. State of Franklin Road, Johnson City, features three venues, as well as three rehearsal/meeting rooms. Construction on the center began in early 2018 and was completed in fall 2020. The ETSU Foundation Grand Hall can seat nearly 1,200.