All of country music mourned when songwriter Brett James was tragically killed in a plane crash last September, including Kenny Chesney. Not only did James write several of Chesney’s biggest hits, including “You Save Me,” “When the Sun Goes Down,” and “Just To Say We Did,” but they were also close friends.

The last song on Chesney’s forthcoming new Silver Sands Marina album is “Shot Glass,” a song James wrote with Tony Lane.

“I never heard it,” Chesney reveals on TalkShopLive. “Brett’s publisher sent it. I knew exactly how I wanted this album to end, and then I heard ‘Shot Glass.’ At the end of the song, it says, ‘Tell me, how did all of that fit into a shot glass?’ Now to sing that song, you have to have lived a little bit. You’d have to have a little bit of perspective. So when I heard ‘Shot Glass,’ I thought about the subsequent songs on the record. How did all those emotions fit into that shot glass? And that’s the very last line of the album.”

Chesney says the song sums up the life of James, one that was sadly cut short.

“I think about my friend Brett and his life, and how much fun we had together, and all the journeys we went on,” Chesney says. “All the sunsets, and boat trips, and songs written during that period. How did all that fit into a shot glass? I think everybody out there has those moments in their life that they say cheers to, that are really big in weddings, whatever, divorces maybe.”

“How do all those emotions fit into a shot glass? It just made me feel so incredible,” he adds. “That was very intentional on that song ending the record.”

What Kenny Chesney Says About ‘Silver Sands Marina’

Silver Sands Marina comes after Chesney’s 2024 BORN album. With a lengthy history in country music, the 58-year-old went into creating the record with a very open mind, determined to let the songs speak for themselves.

“There wasn’t a master plan,” Chesney acknowledges. “I wish I could say there was a master plan, but the truth is: the songs that felt like they belonged together knew something I didn’t. After the first couple listens to what became the final sequence, I realized, ‘This is an album.’

“With all the tracks, the playlists, the drops, I think we’ve forgotten the power of an actual collection of songs designed to work as a whole,” he remarks. “Not ten or 12 or even 18 great songs, but songs that have a relationship to each other, that speak to how life rolls out and happens.”

Silver Sands Marina will be out on September 25.

‘Silver Sands Marina’ Track List

“Burn My Boat”
“Carry On”
“Talkin’ Dirt”
“Goldfish” (featuring Lily Meola)
“Silver Sands Marina”
“It Just Got Weird” (featuring Megan Moroney)
“Sad Casino”
“Shot A Car Into Space”
“Remember Me That Way”
“What We Got Going On” (featuring Colbie Caillat)
“Shot Glass”