Kenny Chesney

And this was the first time that I was going to taste what I was going to taste a lot of in the future was the first taste of rejection in the music business.

But for some reason, it didn't bother me.

I said, okay, you got to get better.

Do you remember the song?

Her name was Amy and I can't remember the song.

Okay.

But it was... I'd love to hear it if you... Oh my God, I don't even have any... I'd love to hear it.

Yeah, wouldn't it be great?

It would be great to hear it.

But that was the first song I ever wrote.

I was a sophomore in college at East Tennessee State University.

That's where this whole creative thing began.

But you had no plans of becoming a singer or... No, well...

I was in college, and Rick, I was playing at a Mexican restaurant called Chucky's Trading Post.

It was on this big river where people, have you ever been to whitewater rafting?

Okay, well, at some point they'll stop, and you'll get off and have lunch or whatever.

Well, I was playing at a Mexican restaurant halfway down this river called the Nolichucky River, and people would get off, and they would drink some beers and whatever, and I would be the guy up there playing.

And that's the first place I ever felt any kind of connection.

Was it more a job or more like the beginning of your career?

I didn't know it was going to be this, obviously.