Road and the Radio

At what point did Jimmy Buffett become the most influential artist in country music? Kenny Chesney is the latest to fall under the Parrothead spell. Known to blue-staters as the dude with the big cowboy hat who was married to Renée Zellweger for about fifteen minutes, Chesney has a warm, inviting voice and used to know what to do with it. Road and the Radio has its moments—the title track is a heartfelt ode to simple pleasures—but tunes like “Beer in Mexico” and “Tequila Loves Me” offer nothing more than a return trip to Margaritaville.