In recent years, plenty of artists have had crossover success from country to pop, including Jelly Roll, Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, HARDY and more. There are also numerous pop artists, such as Post Malone and Beyoncé, who have enjoyed a successful foray into country music, although not without criticism.
But two of the people who won’t complain about crossover success, from either side, are Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who together make up Brooks & Dunn, and proudly defend an artist’s right to make the music they want to make, regardless of what genre it does or does not fit into.
“Everybody out there has an opinion,” Dunn tells American Songwriter. “I don’t see the negative dynamic to it. I don’t. Let other people make those statements. I’m going to come at it as an artist and a creative type. At the same time, I’m born in West Texas. I grew up in West Texas and Oklahoma. There’s rock music out there, too, and different slants on what country should be. Let it eat. It’s all going to come back.”
It’s been more than 30 years since Brooks & Dunn’s debut single, “Brand New Man,” was released in 1991. With over three decades of being part of the country music landscape, few artists have seen as many trends come and go as Brooks, which is why he is so adamant about not criticizing crossover success.
“Fans change, because fans get older and young fans come in,” says the 69-year-old. “That’s always been the way that this wheel turns. And, fans ultimately have always said this about people who are throwing rocks at some artist that is not classic, hasn’t been here forever, artists today that may have their start on TikTok or whatever. It’s like, ‘Stop throwing rocks. We have millions of fans out there. And they’re going to decide.'”
“The marketplace is going to decide,” Dunn adds.
Brooks & Dunn proved their acceptance of crossover artists, and artists of other genres, with their REBOOT 2 album, out on Friday, November 15. The record includes reimagined versions of some of their biggest hits, joined by Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Halestorm, HARDY, the Marcus King Band and more.
“They may like that song, and they may give that artist a shot,” Brooks said of fans being willing to give another artist a chance. “But ultimately, if there’s longevity, if there’s a career there, the fans are going to decide if this is an artist that we really believe, because that’s the biggest thing. They can smell a gimmick is what I’m trying to say. If they feel like this is something we can get at the fair, it’s probably not a career. It may be a big ol’ hit. It may be two big hits. Those are the ones that we’ve all seen come and go, for the most part.
“There are a lot of great artists that maybe just didn’t have a good follow-up hit,” he continues. “But for the most part, the careers are generally the real deal, and for us, that’s the greatest compliment, and with a record like REBOOT 2, that’s where we hope that we’ve been here long enough, we’ve stayed true to what we do long enough, that let us have a little fun here, and see if you can’t have a little fun with us.”
REBOOT 2 comes five years after the original Reboot, released in 2019, which included collaborations with all country artists, like Luke Combs, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett and more. This time, both men were willing and eager to allow the artists of all genres complete creative freedom on the songs in the studio, even if it didn’t sound country.
“There’s everything, some really hardcore rock stuff on here,” Brooks says. “You know HARDY’s not going to settle down at this point. He came screaming into it, and it’s really all over the place, but really fun just unleashed frickin creativity.”
“You’re not just going to go, ‘Oh well that’s that’s ‘Hard Working Man.’ That’s ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’ … This is the most fun project and everybody says it,” Dunn continues. “But I mean it. This is the most fun project we ever we’ve ever done for sure.”
See a track list for REBOOT 2 below. Find all of Brooks & Dunn’s music and upcoming shows at brooks-dunn.com.
REBOOT 2 Track List:
“Play Something Country” with Lainey Wilson
“Neon Moon” with Morgan Wallen
“Rock My World (Little Country Girl)” with Marcus King Band
“Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You” with Megan Moroney
“Brand New Man” with Warren Zeiders
“Believe” with Jelly Roll
“She Used to Be Mine” with Riley Green
“She Likes to Get Out of Town” with The Cadillac Three
“Boot Scootin’ Boogie” with Halestorm
“Ain’t No Way To Go” with Mitchell Tenpenny
“How Long Gone” with The Earls of Leicester
“I’ll Never Forgive My Heart” with Jake Worthington
“She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind” with Hailey Whitters
“Hard Workin’ Man” with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
“Hillbilly Deluxe” with HARDY
“Indian Summer” with ERNEST
“Drop in the Bucket” with Thousand Horses
“Only In America” with Corey Kent