LISTEN NOW: Kenny Chesney’s Cover of John Baumann’s ‘Gulf Moon’
Kenny Chesney actually had Texas' own John Baumann's "Gulf Moon" on hold for several years. It was supposed to make his '16 Cosmic Hallelujah. When John stopped by Radio Texas, LIVE! last summer he told us that he thought the song was going to be included on that record, everyone did.
Then about six weeks before Cosmic Hallelujah was set to be released, Baumann got the news. "I got a phone call. I was in a hotel room in Wichita Falls," he told us. "It was at the end of a long night, the call was from my manager and he told me [the song] wasn't going to make it... I was down in the dumps for a while, but a lot of this album [Proving Ground] is is kind of like Phoenix rising from the ashes."
Sometimes things work out for the best. Battling through the frustration of his song not making the Chesney album, Baumann was inspired to write one of the best albums in Texas of '17 -- and today his allusive Chesney cut was released at midnight, included on his new album Songs for Saints.