Kenny Chesney

But it was more me in college, and I was playing there.

And then all of a sudden, there was a couple of bars at ETSU, what's called the Tree Streets.

And there was a place called Quarterback's Barbecue.

I played there three nights a week and at Chucky's.

And then in Johnson City, I kind of graduated

There was a couple of guys that when I joined a bluegrass band at ETSU, I mean, it was like a real class.

And it's still one of the only classes in the country where you can take bluegrass music as a accredited class.

And it was great.

And that's the first time I learned how to play with a band.

And there's a place still today in Johnson City called the Down Home.

And the Down Home, every bluegrass band in the world plays there.

I mean, I've seen James Taylor there, Alison Krauss at Union Station.

I mean, all these people play there.

And every Wednesday night, they had a thing called the Open Hoot, which means you could sign up for 30 minutes and get up and do anything.

And it's a place where you drink beer and have chips and salsa and you watch people get up for 30 minutes and play.

And me and a guy named Marcus Smith and, you know, the guy named Sean Lane, we would get up every Wednesday night and play for 30 minutes.

And we'd play songs we wrote.

You know, by that time I was writing a few songs and some bluegrass songs.

And that's where this started.

But the creative part of it was for that girl in my persuasion class.