In his first book, Heart Life Music (Morrow, Nov.), written with Holly Gleason, Chesney reflects on his career and experiences as a stadium-tour veteran. For PW, the country music superstar speaks about the importance of authenticity and the music that’s influenced him.

A big focus of the book is all the people who’ve supported your career and growth. Was that always the plan, or did the book grow in that direction as you were working on it?

I'm very proud of what I've achieved, but I wrote a song years ago called “I Didn't Get Here Alone,” and that is how I really feel. I wanted the book to be more about the love that was spread and the positive energy that was felt onstage and behind the stage. And honestly, growing up with my parents, my mother and my grandmother, I got all that from them. To focus on the stuff everybody already knows would just seem redundant and unnecessary. I wanted them to see the why of it all, the how of it, and everybody that came along with me.

Another big focus is wanting your music to be real. Can you kind of talk more about that in terms of how it's informed your songwriting and your musical choices?

Well, I really feel that one of the biggest gifts that's ever been given to me was the gift of creativity. And when you have that in your life, I mean, to go and have your music be disingenuous would be going completely against everything that you've been doing as a creative person. So it's very important to me that I am authentic and that I present my music and myself in a real way. You know, when I open my mouth, I'm country, and when I make my records I'm a product of everything I digested as a child, which was rock—which is now called classic rock—and country and bluegrass and gospel, I mean, there was just so much. But I think my audience could smell a rat awfully quickly if they hear something disingenuous and not real. I'm never gonna be the person doing a vanity project.

Besides your musical work, you wrote about making the 2010 documentary Boys of Fall, about high school football. What was it like working in a different medium after being so focused on music for so long?

Well, I can tell you, that came at a time when I really needed it. I first went on the road in 1993 and by 2009 I felt just numb. I wasn't happy, I wasn't sad, I was just numb, and that's not the way music is supposed to be made. And there was a moment where I thought, you know what, I'm going to back away from this for a while. I don't know how I did that. It was really scary. And then I made the record Boys of Fall. The album wasn't even out yet, but that song led to the longform music video we did, which led to ESPN wanting me to make a documentary film about it. We traveled all over the country, and next thing you know I'm in the office of Nick Saban and I'm in the office of John Madden, and Bill Parcells. I'm in Bobby Bowden's living room. That fed me creatively more than I could've ever imagined and lit my creative soul back on fire enough to help bridge the gap. I was no longer numb. I was back, and it took Boys of Fall and that whole process to do that, and I'm very grateful for that.

What was it like to kind of sit down and take stock of your career to date?

Oh my God, it was…you know, I've been moving so fast for a while now and never took the time to reflect on it. And when we started to reflect on it, I mean, I was stunned at everything that had happened. And I was like, okay, now it's time. You know, living your life to this point is one thing; reliving it is another. When you think about your family, and you think about your life on the road, and then you think about your life on stage and in the studio, and it's just been all of that since 1993, constantly. It was hard work, but it was therapeutic, and I enjoyed the process a lot.

What are your favorite memoirs and/or favorite books about music?

Well, my friend Josh Brolin just put out a book that I really enjoyed listening to. I get into the sauna and I do a lot of heat and ice and that's my favorite place to listen to books. And when it comes to music books, I read Born to Run years ago, and I loved it.

You talk in the book about Springsteen’s major influence on you.

Yeah, I mean I've had a lot of influences, but Bruce was a big one. I've always been drawn to people who write their own songs and go out and give every cell of their body on stage, and the first time I saw that I was like, this is amazing! And when I first moved to Nashville I went to see Jimmy Buffett at an amphitheater, and I was just stunned by how much love and positive energy came from the stage. And I went, wow, what did I just see? That was the first time I saw Jimmy, and I went back to my apartment that had nothing but a TV and a bed in it, and I went, wow that was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, just because of the connection part of it. So those two guys really meant a lot to me.

This article has been updated.