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Just this week, Kenny Chesney has released his latest album, Life On A Rock, his 14^th studio album to date. We are aware Country Music doesn’t have enough air time here in the UK, so we thought the best way to introduce you to it, would be through the song that would “blend of country instrumentation and anthemic pop that became his signature and made him a star”.

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The Tin Man is a fantastic song, and the forward by a young looking Kenny Chesney will have you falling head over heels for country. We are very sure that this song will change your perspective on country music, and will have your wearing a Stetson in no time at all.

BB

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Hey there music fans! Not sure if you’re aware or not, but we here at Legacy are big Country Music fans. These past few weeks we’ve been busy with our Spotify Playlists, Facebook Page and Twitter account, check em out and subscribe! Recently we attended the Country2Country music festival at the O2 Greenwich, and enjoyed some stellar performances from Carrie Underwood.

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Out this week is Brad Paisley’s new album Wheelhouse, so we decided to bring you one of his absolute classics. Listening through the expansive catalogue we decided there could only be one song that you should here, Brad calls it his ‘favourite song’ he has written. So enjoy this truly heartfelt performance of He Didn’t Have To Be.

BB

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‘On the Sunny Side of the Street’ has got to be one of my favourite songs ever. Not because of any version in particular, you understand, just because it’s a classic, lovely song. The first time I heard it was when it was sung by Marie Bryant in the endlessly cool 1944 short film, Jammin’ The Blues and though I liked it, her strangely staccato delivery never really gripped me. It was only when I heard Billie Holiday’s version that I really got it. It seemed a bit strange hearing Billie sing something so happy (especially as I first heard her version right after listening to ‘Strange Fruit’. Shuffle be damned!), but I loved it. 

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This version by Willie Nelson appeared on his 1978 album, Stardust - a collection of Willie’s favourite pop / jazz standards that was met with near-universally positive reviews on release, despite Columbia Records’ initial fears that a move away from his usual outlaw country sound could spell only doom. The 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition contained another 16 tracks on a bonus disc of standards taken from across Willie’s other albums (this includes another one of my favourites, ‘Stormy Weather’).

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To say the album’s been successful would be to seriously underplay it — Willie won a Grammy award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for ‘Georgia On My Mind’, the album is on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and, mind-bogglingly, the Stardust stayed on Billboard’s Country Album Chart all the way from its release up until 1988! That’s a whole 10 years on the chart (…and you thought Adele’s album had stuck around a while)!

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KS