Exclusive: Mark Chesnutt Introduces A New 'Tradition'

Pictured (L-R): Craig Shelburne, Molly Hannula, Troy Stephenson, Mark Chesnutt, Sherod Robertson, Jessica Nicholson, Eric T. Parker

Mark Chesnutt has never lived in Nashville but he’s catching up with friends in the country music industry this week to talk about his upcoming album, Tradition Lives.

Chesnutt says he relied on producer Jimmy Ritchey to round up the new material. Asked how long it takes to decide whether or not to record a song, Chesnutt quickly replied, “As soon as I hear it. If I let it play all the way through, then that’s a good sign.”

It took three years to find and record the songs for Tradition Lives, Chesnutt said. He noted that a renewed interest in country music – in addition to releasing a new album and maintaining longtime friendships with talent buyers – has kept his phone ringing. Although he’s been playing about a hundred dates a year, he expects that number to increase. Right now he’s booked for about 175 shows for 2016.

Following a visit to MusicRow on Tuesday afternoon (June 21), he was scheduled for an on-air interview and performance with SiriusXM. On Wednesday he’ll sing on the Grand Ole Opry. His new single is “Oughta Miss Me By Now.”

Tradition Lives is Chesnutt’s first new album since 2010. It is being released by Row Entertainment and distributed by BFD through RED distribution.

Still based out of Beaumont, Texas, Chesnutt remains one of the notable country singers of the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1999, he charted 20 Top 10 hits, including eight No. 1 singles such as “Brother Jukebox” and “Almost Goodbye.” For the duration he recorded for MCA Nashville and sister label Decca Records. He won the 1993 CMA Horizon Award for new artists.

Tradition Lives includes “Never Been to Texas,” a song he wrote with Roger Springer and Slugger Morrissette years ago that he had never recorded. (However, Chesnutt did grab a two-week No. 1 hit with their composition, “It’s a Little Too Late.”) The bonus track is “There Won’t Be Another Now,” a song written by Red Lane and recorded twice by Merle Haggard.

Chesnutt had never performed the song before he and Ritchey decided to record it acoustically, just for the sake of having it around. After Lane and Haggard passed away, Chesnutt believed it belonged on the album. “[Jimmy] played guitar and I sang it—and we kept it until the album was done,” Chesnutt said. “When Merle and Red both died, we said, ‘Let’s stick it on there and make it a tribute.'”