Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Josh Turner, Michael Hobby (A Thousand Horses), Billy Currington and Tyler Farr talk about fireworks and the Fourth of July.

Kenny Chesney recalls what the Fourth of July was like for him as a kid:

“You know what? I was usually playin’ little-league baseball on the Fourth of July. You know, I was big into sports, and the summertime in east Tennessee consisted of playin’ baseball, and that’s what I did on the Fourth of July. And they had a big fireworks display after all the games, and I was usually, you know, tryin’ to win the affection of some little girl over at the concession stand. And, you know (laughs), things don’t change very much!”

When it comes to the Fourth of July, Miranda Lambert admits that she’s all about the sparklers:

“I love holidays in general, but Fourth of July is…summer is my favorite time of year, so Fourth of July is probably one of my favorites because I…my favorite firework is sparklers. Always it brings out the little girl in me. I always ask for sparklers (laughs) for Fourth of July.”

As Josh Turner shares, when it came to the Fourth of July in his childhood, fireworks were a mainstay for sure:

“Yeah, we had fireworks around, especially my Daddy’s family. All the individual families had a lot of competition with each other and tried to outdo each other to try to see who had the biggest and baddest fireworks and all that. [laughs] My daddy, I think, was the smartest one. He just went out and bought maybe $25 worth of fireworks and let everybody else put on the big show, so he saved a lot of money (laughs).”

A Thousand Horses’ Michael Hobby shares a Fourth of July story about his brother and a bit of a  domestic mishap:

“My brother lit a firecracker in our house one time and it was one of those you know the tanks. (mmm hmm) So I mean, kind of a real deal firework. And he lit it and he didn’t know what to do because he freaked out. So he put a trash can over it, which I guess is kind of smart, but it burned a hole in the floor about that big and it’s still there to this day. And our house smelled awful, it was like sulfur, you know.”

Billy Currington shares his best childhood memories of the Fourth of July in his hometown:

“My best memories would be hanging out with my mom, brother and sister on the beach on Tybee Island right off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. We’d go there every year, and we’d light our own fireworks and watch the ones that they had for us. They were the best times, some of the best times of my life.”

Tyler Farr does believe in child safety when it comes to fireworks, however, he laughs that there’s usually a kid like him in the bunch:

“I encourage young kids to use the snakes and the poppers, but there’s always that little redneck kid that has a bottle rocket, and he’s about to light it, and he’s gonna fire it wherever direction he decides to go, and it’s gonna scare the crap out of somebody, and (laughs) I live for moments like that. What can I say?”

Have a Happy and Safe Fourth of July from your friends here at Bloomington-Normal’s #1 Country, B104!

By: Buck Stevens