Country superstar Kenny Chesney may have sold millions of records, won countless awards and played sold-out stadium shows for legions of fans, but anyone who knows the singer from Luttrell, Tennessee knows that his success is rooted in the discipline, the teamwork and sense of purpose he came to learn as teenager playing football at Gibbs High.

“I was the starting wide receiver, which tells you how great we were,” Chesney says. “And I quit growing my freshman year. But I now know why we practiced longer, why our coach put us through double practices in the summer heat… all those things he put us through. It was to teach us things me and everybody on our team has used to become the people we are.”

For the past year, Chesney has been shooting The Boys of Fall, a documentary about the power and passion of high school football. He has drawn on his longstanding relationships with some of football’s most successful players and coaches – including winning Superbowl coach Sean Payton, John Madden, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, former UT coach Phil Fulmer and University of Alabama’s Nick Saban and Bobby Bowden – as well as high school coaches from Illinois, Texas and Tennessee.

“When I was looking for songs for my album, someone pitched me “The Boys of Fall” and it struck me as everything I think and feel about that experience,” Chesney says. “That song was like striking a match!”

Negotiations to find a distributor for The Boys of Fall are close to being finalized.

Fifty-two new members have been selected to participate in the 22nd class of Leadership Music. The annual program is designed to create a forum for established music community leaders to identify and explore issues currently affecting the music industry.

“The selection committee, composed of Leadership Music alumni from all areas of the industry, has carefully chosen an outstanding group of leaders from hundreds of candidates for the Class of 2011,” said J. Fred Knobloch, immediate past president of the board of directors and owner of J. Fred Knobloch Music, LLC., who chaired the committee. “This is the most important and rewarding work we do all year, and I applaud the committee’s dedication in putting together the next ‘best class ever’.”

Members of the Class of 2011 are: Lainie Allbee, general manager, Martin, Allbee & Associates, LLC; Claire Armbruster, artist support, Keith Case & Associates; Jeff Balding, producer; Jeff Black, artist/songwriter, Jeff Black Music/Lotos Nile Music; Brad Bissell, agent, Creative Artists Agency; Duff Berschback, vice president, business affairs, Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Ashley Capps, president/founder, AC Entertainment (Knoxville, TN); Jim Catino, vice president, A&R, Sony Music Nashville; Ramon Cisneros, president/CEO, Millennium Marketing; Ben Cissell, outreach director, Rocketown; Eric Conn, president, Independent Mastering; Ron Cox, senior vice president/head of entertainment division, Avenue Bank; Robin Eaton, president, Alex the Great/Club Roar;

J. Tod Fetherling, president/CEO, Nashville Technology Council; Keith Follese, president, Bigger Dog Productions; Keith Gale, vice president, promotion, RCA Records Nashville; Rusty Gaston, partner/general manager, This Music; Ken Gay, video designer/artist, XL Video USA; Jesse Goldstein, president, The TomKats Group; David Hamilton, producer/arranger/conductor, Hamilton Music Production; Dan E. Harrell, president, Fore Artist Management; Jim Houser, partner, Management Operations, Creative Trust, Inc.; Misha Hunke, assistant vice president, performing rights, BMI; Michael J. Huppe, executive vice president/general counsel, SoundExchange, Inc. (Washington, DC); Ariel Hyatt, president, Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR (Brooklyn, NY); John Ingrassia, general manager, Vector Management;

John R. Jacobson, attorney, Riley Warnock & Jacobson, PLC; Barry Jeffrey, WME; Brock Jones, senior director, booking, Powers Management (Bridgestone Arena); Dennis F. Jones, Jr., president/general manager, RadioJones, LLC (Atlanta, GA); Will Kimbrough, president, Will Kimbrough Music; Chandra LaPlume-Pereira, vice president/partner, Taillight TV; Wayne Leeloy, senior director, artist services, Topspin Media; Lori Mechem, executive director, Nashville Jazz Workshop; Andrew Mendelson, owner/chief mastering engineer, Georgetown Masters; Wendell Moore, president/CEO, The Capitol Group, LLC; Molly Nagel, senior director, artist development, Sugar Hill Records; Jill Napier, executive vice president, Big Loud Bucks Administration & Information, LLC; Suzanne Norman, senior vice president, strategy & business operations, CMT;

Cliff O’Sullivan, senior vice president, Group Marketing, Universal Music Group Distribution (Universal City, CA); Joe Palmaccio, president, The Place. . .for Mastering, PC; Glenn Peoples, senior editorial analyst, Billboard; Chip Petree, general manager/vice president, business affairs, Copyright Exchange, LLC; Rod Riley, chief operating officer, Word Entertainment; Carla Sacks, president, Sacks & Co (New York, NY).; Paul Schatzkin, owner, Cohesion Arts; Jennifer Schott, songwriter, Big Schott Songs; Michael Spriggs, Incredisongs; Lester Turner, Jr., president, Tuned In Broadcasting, Inc.; Melissa Wald, assistant professor, Middle Tennessee State University; Jon Weisberger, proprietor, Use Your Words Music; Marcus Whitney, chief technology officer, Moontoast.

Leadership Music is a non-profit 501(c)3 educational organization whose mission is to nurture a knowledgeable, issue-oriented of music industry professionals. The Program, which begins with an orientation and alumni reception in September, totals 10 days in eight sessions over eight months.  It launches with a two-day opening retreat weekend in October; then presents six monthly themed days targeting the latest issues regarding songwriting, publishing, artists and their teams, studios and production, record companies, distribution, media, and touring; and closes with a two-day closing retreat in May.  The Program is produced by alumni, and features worldwide experts as speakers and participants, to provide relevance to the future with context from the past. More than 800 alumni have graduated from the annual Program since its founding in 1989 in Nashville.