Kenny Chesney readies for 2008 tour, names Rimes opening act

The road warrior said Tuesday he has a name for the tour and an opening act - LeAnn Rimes will open up his 2008 tour. Rimes just released "Family" in October.

"I'm calling it the Poets & Pirates Tour," he says, "because everyone I see at my shows has a little bit of both inside. Whether you're working in an office, a restaurant, driving a truck or building houses, there's a part that wants to be free, that maybe dreams of those moments when you are.

"And I know the way we live out on the road, for sure, we're pirates in our own way: knowing you have to make the moment as intense as it can be, because once the show's over, it's done and we're gone... It's a little rootless, but it's part of where the songs come from, that poetry to how this life is."

The Poets & Pirates Tour follows on the heels of Chesney's 2007 Flip Flop Summer tour, which included 6 NFL Stadiums in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle and marked the 6th summer in a row that he played to more than 1 million fans.

As details are coming together during what is called "off time," Chesney admits, "You start to miss it after a few weeks. It's what you know, and what you live for."

"I think LeAnn Rimes is as good a singer as there is out there, and she knows how to have fun onstage," said Chesney. "I am a big fan and everybody better be ready for pretty incredible time. I know I'm looking forward to seeing her out there and getting to hear her sing."