You know the old saying, "where there's smoke, there's fire?"   Let's hope this rumor has some flames to it.   We've heard that Kenny Chesney has picked a new tourmate for next year....Eric Church!   

Now EC says he does plan to take most of 2013 off the road to start work on his follow up album to Chief, but when questioned by a Miami radio station, Country Vibe reports he said, “They both might be true.  It is still rumor stage, but I can at least say most of next year off is true. We are doing some shows in Canada the first part of the year, but as far as the U.S. goes, I think it is looking like we maybe do 20 shows across the country.”  Read more here. Wouldn't that work out well as far as timing for Kenny's stadium tours? Eric says, “Regardless of what happens with touring with anybody else, we are going to be taking most of the year off… By in large I’m going to try to focus on, from a songwriting standpoint and from a record standpoint, of where we go next and where we go from here.  I think that that’s the main focus of next year.”  What does Kenny think?  Well, if what he said to Entertainment Weekly last May is any indication, that Eric is a, "real artist. He didn't come up some karaoke contest"  we're in for a fun summer!