When Kenny Chesney released  the lead single off his 12th studio album
-  "Boys of Fall" - it seemed natural considering the star grew up in
football crazed East Tennessee.

"Kenny was a great vehicle for
this song. He eats and breathes football besides his music career", says
the songs co-writer Dave Turnbull.

    The song's video features footage of Chesney's hometown team and even Chesney himself from back in the day.
    But his time on the field isn't the story behind the song.

  
"We both knew plenty about it to put song together it was just about
grabbing the right words to say what everyone has played would want to
hear", says Turnbull, who is a co-writer on the song that's impacting
football fanatics of all ages. "Whether you played it at peewee, high
school, college, most of us havent done it in a long time and so it
sparks that memory and makes you look back fondly", exclaims Turnbull.

  
 Dave always loved football and his co-writer Casey Beathard lives and
breathes it. In fact, Casey's dad was GM of the Washington Redskins, so
writing the song was as easy as looking back at their own lives.

"I
think he said when i feel that chill and smell that fesh cut grass.
Alot of songs first lines will draw you into a song and when he said
that i was like that is perfect", exclaims Turnbull.

    While
the song is obviously about the sport, Dave says when writing they
weren't talking so much about football as they were life, "You find
comraderie, discipline, working toward a goal, teamwork and those
elements are a big part of life".

    Dave says it took about two
days to get every lyric just right. They didn't have any particular
artist in mind when penning it, but when they finished Kenny Chesney
immediatly came to mind.Within 6 months chesney picked up the song, but
Turnbull says Chesney wasn't as fast to release it! "We found out it was
gonna be recorded in the spring of 09. They said it was going to be
singled in july right before football seasons and we were so excited,
then they said it was gonna be 2010 and we were like no, so much can
happen in a years time".

    The wait was all part of a bigger
plan. Kenny gathered football footage and key interviews for a music
video and documentary film. "That could have been a song collecting dust
on our shelves right now but he took it to the next level", explains
Turnbull.

    Personally the song takes Dave back to a special
time in his life. A place millions of football fans seem to relate to.
An impact that has now made "Boys Of Fall" the highlight of Dave's
successful songwriting career.

"There has never been a bigger song that I've had. I hope that it will be played years to come", he says.
Story Behind the Song: "Boys of Fall"