Recently, Brooks & Dunn sat down with Brian
Mansfield of USA Today to talk about 20 years of music, touring, and
their career. The guys also reveal a sneak peek at what cities their
final tour "The Last Rodeo" will stop.
USA Today Article |
USA Today Photos |
Behind The Scenes Video
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have a saying.
"If you're going to set yourself on fire, I guess I'll have to set myself on fire, too." That's the fuel that has kept country music's Brooks & Dunn
running since 1991, when the act released its first single. But now the
two singers have decided they won't set themselves on fire for each
other anymore. In August, the halves of the most successful duo in
country music history announced they'll go their separate ways, after a
2010 tour appropriately called Last Rodeo.
PHOTOS: A look back at Brooks & Dunn's career
Sitting in a renovated barn on the back of his property, Dunn, 56, offers a no-frills explanation for their decision. "This thing has run almost 20 years," he says. "It has run its course."
That course began at the suggestion of Tim DuBois, a
songwriter/accountant running Arista Records' Nashville office, who
figured the market was ripe for a new duo, since The Judds had just
announced their retirement. "They were very different singers, but the way they were writing and
the music they were doing was similar," he says. "So I gambled a plate
of chicken fajitas and took the two of them to lunch."
At the time, Brooks and Dunn were pursuing solo careers with minimal
success. Brooks had released an album for Capitol Records, and Dunn had
won a national country talent contest. Neither had made much of an
impact individually. "We were just a couple of guys that needed jobs,"
Dunn says. "Somebody came along and offered us one."
DuBois' introduction paid off big. Starting with Brand New Man (also
the title of the duo's Arista debut album), Brooks & Dunn's first
four singles topped the country charts. The fourth, a remake of Asleep
at the Wheel's Boot Scootin' Boogie, became the unofficial anthem of
country's early-'90s line-dance craze. The album soon sold 6 million
copies.
"Brooks & Dunn caught us by surprise," Dunn says. "It took off, and we rode that horse. As fast as we could."
The act differed from typical, harmony-oriented country duos, which
tended to be family acts. "We've never had very good harmonies,
honestly," says Brooks, 54. "We've always bounced around in our own
little worlds on the stage. It's been a unique and different kind of
chemistry."
Musically, that chemistry has come from combining Texas swings and
shuffles, a rocking honky-tonk and the occasional vocal tour de force
that has quietly gained Dunn a reputation as one of the genre's finest
singers. "I wanted something that was Western, like a George Strait band, but
something that rocked," DuBois says. "They made a really in-your-face
but very country (first) album. That helped move that sound along."
During their career, Brooks & Dunn have sold more than 25
million albums and had more than two dozen No. 1 singles. With 1,500
shows and more than a million miles under their belts, the two are also
regarded as a groundbreaking country touring act. Opening acts have
included nearly every major performer to arrive after them, including
Toby Keith, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and
Keith Urban.
"It was more than a country show," says Billboard senior touring
editor Ray Waddell. "They always rocked a little harder, with a healthy
dose of Rolling Stones and ZZ Top. In terms of production, they upped
it a notch every year. They were ahead of their time, with multiple
acts and extra elements on a concourse and second stage."
No personality clashes. Breakup rumors have dogged the group for years. Even now, the two
entertainers discount those as mere speculation. ("Never been a riff,"
Dunn says.)
The two men's personalities likely fueled some of the talk at the time. "I look at them as two brothers, and they don't always see eye to
eye on things," says manager Clarence Spalding. "Kix is outgoing,
Ronnie is more shy. But those two very different personalities can
always find that common ground that is Brooks & Dunn."
During a commercial lull in the late '90s, the two used separate producers and often recorded at separate sessions. "Looking back, we should have just taken a break and let all the dust settle under us," Dunn says. 2001's Steers & Stripes album yielded Ain't Nothing 'Bout You, a
six-week chart-topper, and the patriotic Only in America, which
happened to be in heavy rotation on country radio when hijacked planes
crashed into the World Trade Center. Those songs helped start a career
resurgence that saw some of the duo's biggest hits, including 2005's
Believe.
But in recent years, the act again has shown signs of running out of
steam. The two haven't had a No. 1 hit since 2005's Play Something
Country. And, for the past three years, Sugarland has replaced them as
the Country Music Association's vocal duo of the year – an award Brooks
& Dunn won a record-setting 14 times. "Twenty years – that's a long time to go fishing in the same well,"
Brooks says. "You're within the confines of things that work for two
guys on stage. Creatively, you do have some fences there."
Lately, both Brooks and Dunn have been brushing up against those
fences more than they once did, particularly when choosing material.
"We definitely have to go back and forth with songs," Brooks says.
"That's always a challenge where you're having to compromise. There
have always been hurt feelings. There have always been opinions." At a meeting about songs earlier this year, Dunn decided he no longer wanted to make those compromises.
"We both knew this was probably it," Brooks says. "He called back
the next day and said, 'I don't want to do this anymore.' And I was in
agreement. I really was. I was willing that day to try and work it out,
but when he said, 'This is it, I really think it is,' I said, 'I think
it is, too.' "I was and still am totally at peace with it. It's a good time for us to stop."
Brooks says his mind immediately jumped to the idea of some sort of
farewell tour. Dunn, however, needed a little convincing. "I was
willing to walk out and never look back," he says. "Sometimes, I work a
little more from emotion than I do from rational thought."
After 15 years as arena headliners with a carny's sense of
showmanship, Brooks & Dunn probably could have remained a reliable
touring act, even if they never released another album.
"You knew it was kind of time," says Joe Galante, Sony Music
Nashville chairman. "It just didn't feel as fertile as in the past. I
give them credit: They could make another record. That's not the issue,
but they didn't feel that, creatively, they were reaching for a higher
ground." Instead, they'll give fans a final go-round. Last Rodeo will start
April 23 in Sacramento and finish in August. Jason Aldean will open the
tour's first leg, and Gary Allan will replace him in mid-June.
"I really felt like we owed it to the fans to let them know that we
are going to stop, but we are going to do one more tour, so let's get
together and have that party one last time," Brooks says. Just because they'll shelve the Brooks & Dunn brand after next
summer doesn't mean either performer is making retirement plans.
"To think that either of us would lock up our guitars and not make
music again because this thing has run its course doesn't really make
any sense, if you know anything about us," Brooks says. Dunn already has begun work on a solo album that could arrive in
late 2010. "I'm probably three-quarters of the way through it," he says.
Brooks has developed many outside interests over the years. His
American Country Countdown show is heard weekly on more than 300 radio
affiliates. He sits on the CMA's board of directors. He co-owns a
winery. And, just as he did before he met Dunn, he's writing songs with
a solo career in mind. "I'll try to find some hits in there," he says. "But I'd also like
to write some songs that mean something from that singer/songwriter
mentality that I come from. I've been chasing Guy Clark since I learned
how to tune a guitar."
The past is prologue. Both men look to forebears like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings as
models for adapting to the different stages of a career, noting that
they recorded separately and together, and with other acts as well.
They also dramatically changed their approach to making music during
careers that lasted decades.
"I've been kidding with people when they ask what I'm going to do,"
Dunn says. "I tell them, 'I'm looking for a used van, a horse trailer
to haul equipment, and a beer-joint band.' "
Though they're clearly intent on traveling their separate ways,
Brooks' and Dunn's paths conceivably could intersect again. "I wouldn't
be surprised to see the two of them write together again at some
point," Galante says. Waddell goes a step further. "Reunions are often characterized as a
cash grab, but, generally, it's a reaction to what fans want. They're
going to ask for (a reunion) a few years down the line." Both men say they're parting on good terms, and each finds that kind words for the other come easily.
Brooks "is a stand-up guy," Dunn says. "He'll come at you head-on.
Whether I agree with it or not, he'll step up. That's good to be
around."
Brooks says it took time to get where he could brag on his business
partner, "but I don't have any problem doing that now. I'm proud of
him. He's a great singer and an amazing talent. "When he's on, I just stand there some nights and I smile."