As one-half of legendary country duo Brooks & Dunn, Ronnie Dunn has enough awards — including 19 CMA awards — to fill a warehouse. Starting today, he’ll be giving fans a glimpse at the songs that helped fuel that success with “RE-DUNN,” a collection of 24 country and rock songs that helped define and inspire him as an artist.
While the “RE-DUNN” album will be released in January, he’ll be releasing two songs from it (one country, one rock) every four weeks leading up to that, starting with today’s unveiling of “Amarillo By Morning” by George Strait and “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” by The Hollies. You can listen to both songs here.
“In West Texas we’d play in cover bands on the weekends, and ‘Amarillo By Morning’ was a regional hit in the early ’80s and we’d play it,” Dunn recalls during a recent interview with The Post. “And ‘Long Cool Woman,’ I remember hearing it forever and digging the track. You hear that guitar riff, listen to the lyrics — it’s rock but it’s impressionistic. In country we write straight, to tell a story and get right to it. The first time I came across that, I thought, ‘I’m not sure what this is about.’ ”
Other songs on “RE-DUNN” (full track list below) include “How Long” (Ace), “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (The Eagles), “Wonderful Tonight” (Eric Clapton)” and “Ashes by Now” (Lee Ann Womack). Songs by Strait and country rockers like The Eagles and Pure Prairie League are not a stretch, but some might be surprised at the inclusion of tunes by artists like Electric Light Orchestra (“Showdown”).
“Even when I went back to do the country covers, I didn’t go all the way back — I just picked songs that I liked,” says Dunn, who adds that the efforts started when Spotify approached him for a three-song project. “I didn’t give much thought to it. It’s more contemporary than a lot of of people would expect,” adding that the tracks are “a perfect mix of songs that were the backdrop to my life.”
Dunn and Kix Brooks formed their duo in 1990, part of a wave of artists, led by Garth Brooks, that made country more lucrative than ever.
“We had a big wave in the ’90s when we came in,” says Dunn. “All of a sudden I watched first-hand as country morphed from doing smaller venues to [greater] popularity and ticket sales and now, for years, to stadiums, with guys like [Jason] Aldean and [Kenny] Chesney pulling off that stuff.”
While traditionalists bemoan the success of so-called “bro country” while embracing artists like Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell, Dunn feels like there’s room for both camps at the country table. He saw that while working on “Reboot,” last year’s Brooks & Dunn album that found other artists covering B&D songs.
“On the ‘Reboot’ project, some of the contemporary artists walked in and said, ‘I want to do this song exactly like it was recorded. This is the country music that I grew up with.’ Then other ones like Kacey Musgraves took the songs to an entirely different place,” Dunn says. “And it was very innovative. So yeah, it’s out there. I like seeing that push and pull.”
Dunn says Brooks & Dunn will tour next year with no immediate plans for a new record. He’ll also continue to work on his other passion — photography.
“A friend from Sports Illustrated, Ronald Modra, had just come back from Cuba doing his photography, and he asked to see some of my shots,” says Dunn. “He said, ‘Dude, you need to get serious about this.’ It’s a handful. It’s a really great experience. I’ve had a blast shooting rodeos and all kinds of landscapes and bears in Alaska.”
RE-DUNN Full Track List:
1.“Amarillo by Morning”
2. “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)”
3. “That’s How I Got to Memphis”
4. “It Never Rains In Southern California”
5. “How Long”
6. “Drinkin’ Thing”
7. “Together Again”
8. “Peaceful Easy Feeling”
9. “Against The Wind”
10. “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
11. “I Won’t Back Down”
12. “Cowboy Rides Away”
13. “Showdown”
14. “Wonderful Tonight”
15. “Ashes By Now”
16. “That’s The Way Love Goes”
17. “I’m Not In Love”
18. “Brown Eyed Girl”
19. “You Don’t Know Me”
20. “Ridin’ My Thumb To Mexico”
21. “A Showman’s Life”
22. “Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues”
23. “Aime”
24. “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still In Love With You)”