Photo: Allister Ann
Kenny Chesney built his upcoming studio album “with human emotions that make us feel alive,” the country superstar said as he announced the project on Wednesday morning (June 24).
Chesney will deliver Silver Sands Marina on September 25. In honor of the announcement, the Country Music Hall of Fame member — who will mark the opening of his own exhibit next month — released the title track. “Silver Sands Marina” is described as “a silky midtempo that matches the momentum of an unlikely connection in an off-season, off-the-beaten-path place as an afternoon turns into a long night, an early morning flight and a memory that will last a lifetime,” states a press release issued Wednesday morning.
“It is such a well-written song,” Chesney said in a statement. “You can smell the fall in the air, the lake and that solitude. Everyone’s so busy rushing, you miss most of the small details – and everything that happens around them. But in ‘Silver Sands Marina,’ not only do the details hold the song in place, they remind you that the magic happens in the simplest, realest places: you just have to be open to letting it happen.
“These kinds of moments you couldn’t make happen, that’s the magic,” Chesney continued of the title track. “And the two people in the song, who fall into the experience so completely, they know it’s perfect as it’s happening, that this sort of thing doesn’t come along very often. But even more, they’re smart enough to let it be what it is.”
“Silver Sands Marina” follows “Carry On,” Chesney’s carefree anthem that arrived this spring. The trailblazing artist from East Tennessee, who kicked off his second Las Vegas residency at the Sphere this month, said the great thing about songs is “they hold life like nothing else. As I was listening to the songs on this record, I realized ‘Silver Sands Marina’ defines the album. Beyond the story of these two people, this small, lakeside motel that’s existed for generations, it shows the reality that the things that matter actually exist beyond time or place; they’re timeless and always.”
Chesney is part of the star-studded, genre-spanning lineup of the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Festival presented by Capital One, along with BTS, Benson Boone, Cardi B, Goo Goo Dolls, Lainey Wilson, Major Lazer, Muse, Snoop Dogg, Weezer and Zara Larsson, with more to be announced. Ryan Seacrest will host the two-night event when it returns on September 18 and September 19 to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fans can tune in live on iHeartRadio stations nationwide or stream every performance on Disney+ and Hulu, giving subscribers front-row access from the comfort of their homes. Tickets are available on AXS.com. For more details about the iHeartRadio Music Festival visit iHeartRadio.com/Festival.