A picture speaks a thousand words, right?  Enjoy some photos of the Wailers at the 2008 Country Music Awards!

Tune in to see Wailers perform live with Kenny Chesney at the CMAs on ABC tonight. On stage after 10:15pm ET / 9:15pm CT.

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Kenny Chesney To Perform With The Wailers At The CMA Awards

Kenny Chesney was thrilled beyond words when The Wailers agreed to be in his video for “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven.” He is even more thrilled to have the legendary reggae band sing with him during his performance at tomorrow night’s (November 12th) 42nd Annual CMA Awards.

Chesney and The Wailers will sing “Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven,” and also The Wailers’signature “3 Little Birds.” Chesney states: “This may be the coolest performance I’ve ever done on an awards show. . . to just look over there and see Elan Atias on the mic, hearing him sing so sweet. Man, what people don’t realize is their music is just—really—another kind of country. You can hear how natural the rhythms are on ‘Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,’and the way that song slides right into ‘Three Little Birds’like they’re next door neighbors.”

Chesney tells us that when he shot his CMA nominated video for “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven” with The Wailers, he turned on his personal recorder, and taped his conversation with the guys about the music of Bob Marley and The Wailers. “We were just sitting around talking about Bob Marley and his life, and how their music is very universal, and how it, arguably it was some of the most far reaching music to ever be recorded. I mean, it touched a kid in East Tennessee growing up, it could have touched anybody, you know.”

The original Wailers included Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. “Family Man” Aston Barrett was a member of The Wailers Band, which backed Marley’s original group. He is still with the band.

Chesney says: “People who may not know Family Man’s name . . . which is Aston Barrett, but I promise you they know that rhythm, that heart, that music.”

Chesney has 7 CMA nominations this year—Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Album, Single and Video of the Year, and two Vocal Event nominations. He has more 2008 nominations than any other artist.

3x CMA Entertainer of the Year Takes Over Tootsies w the Wailers, Kid Rock

Nashville, TN: After running through their CMA Awards performance at the Sommet Center a couple times, 3-time and current Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney and his good friends the Wailers were too primed to play to not… And so, wit a notion at 1, a few phone calls at 2 and confirmation by 3:30, Kenny Chesney + the Wailers were set to play the backroom at the iconic Tootsies Orchid Lounge.

“That’s the thing about these guys,” explains the Luttrell, Tennessean of the legendary band from Jamaica that helped define reggae music for the world. “They come to play. They are music people, and it’s about what happens when people come together to play songs… to share… and be in the moment.

“After we finished rehearsing, it just didn’t feel like enough, you know? You get sorta ready to go, and then it’s over. I know that was all I could think: this should be done live, out there, so people can see it. When I asked Family Man (Aston Barrett) if they’d be up for playing, he was ready. You know, it’s that thing of you get your feet wet…”

It was more than wet, it was downright sweltering in the packed to capacity club - with people lined up twice around the block to try to get in and see two very different musical worlds colliding. But more than a collision, it was more of a pivot and an overlap, with the Wailers coming to the stage for Chesney’s two week #1 “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven” from his ocean-driven Lucky Old Sun, then shifting into the reggae standard “No Woman.No Cry.”

For Chesney, who’d already played an almost hour set with his road band - including a very special surprise duet with Mac McAnally on “Down The Road,” it was the icing on the cake to call the Wailers to the stage of a bar that had been the watering hole for the Opry stars who used to sneak across the ally from the Ryman and struggling songwriter/poets like Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

“It was two pieces of pretty amazing history in one place,” marveled the man who’s made a little history himself as the only act to sell in excess of a million tickets the last 7 years in a row. “You look at the pictures on the walls, and you realize who’s been on that stage, sat at the bar, laughed, lied, got drunk, told stories and wrote some songs… and then you look at Fams or even Elan (Atias, their singer) and you think about all the places they’ve been, and you’re just blown away by it all.”

It was a moment unlike any other. Thrown together, sloppy, fun and a place where friends celebrated the spirit of music - as Kid Rock joined the ever-expanding band for “Midnight Rider,” his own “Cowboy” and David Allen Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me By Me Name” alongside the Wailers who like McAnally, also stayed onstage.

“On a night like this, when you can look to your right and see Mac - and turn around and see, well, the Wailers playing on ‘Gimme 3 Steps’ or ‘Dixieland Delight’ - it’s as awesome as having Bob (Kid Rock) singing ‘One Love’ with us. You know, music when it’s good is music… and I think that’s what made this so special.”

It’s not really a surprise since we’re telling you in advance, but just imagine the looks on all those CMA-tourist-faces when Kenny Chesney shows up tonight at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. We heard it on the radio today - Kenny Chesney and The Wailers are in town for the CMA’s and will be making a relatively impromptu appearance at 9pm. Head over there if you dare!

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Check out the recent Wailers press in Straights Times Life!

“Bob Marley Live On… His mission was to spread the message and help keep young people in line so that they won’t walk on the wild side.  The Reggae Legends’ band, The Wailers, carry on his legacy.”

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