Brooks and Dunn go bluegrass?
Okay, I might be stretching the truth a little bit. It’s more like Ronnie Dunn – of Brooks and Dunn – apparently tapped into his bluegrass roots and put together a full-length bluegrass album. Have you listened to it? I’ll go ahead and answer, “No” for you, because as Ronnie explained on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, no one will ever hear it.
The country music legends sat down for an episode of the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk about their reunion, working with younger artists on their Reboot and Reboot II projects, how “Neon Moon” has become the quintessential Brooks and Dunn song, and much, much more. At some point in the conversation, we asked Brooks and Dunn about their musical influences, and Ronnie and Kix hit us with some great answers – and honed in one bluegrass.
Kix first answered with how he came to know the bluegrass genre, partially thanks to where he grew up:
“I went to high school in Tennessee, so I went to a lot of the bluegrass festivals and stuff. That’s where you realize, ‘Man, how’d they get this (so good?)’ Shoot, there’s so many of those things. They had the under-6-year-olds part of the festival, and it’s like a contest. (They were) way better than me.”
We can only wonder where those under-6-year-olds are know if they were better than the great Kix Brooks at such a young age.
Through the conversation though, it was clear that both Ronnie and Kix had a deep appreciation for bluegrass – or as Ronnie called it “mountain jazz.” It was cool to hear some of Kix’s influences, but the quote that really caught us off guard was Ronnie breaking the news that he once did a full-length bluegrass album:
“100 years ago in Muscle Shoals, I did a project with Sam Bush and the New Grass Revival. You’ll never hear it.”
Just to be clear, that’s why I answered, “No” for the reader earlier in the story. It seems as though once Dunn finished up the recordings with Sam Bush and the New Grass Revival (a highly respected progressive bluegrass band that was together from 1971 to 1989), he made sure that they never saw the light of day.
Though when Ronnie talked about recording with them, and other times he ran into the New Grass Revival (and others), it seemed as though they always had a good time:
“I walked into a buddy’s house in Tulsa, I walk in the living room and it’s Leon Russel sitting at a grand piano and New Grass Revival all standing around it – playing and singing, getting ready for Leon’s tour, because they went out with him for a little while. Man it was crazy stuff. We all ended up being best friends.”
@whiskeyriff MOUNTAIN JAZZ 🪕 Take a listen to the latest episode of Whiskey Riff Raff on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts brought to you by Browning. 🏹 @brooksanddunn @Shelby McCarthy #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
Ronnie just casually namedropping the late, great multi-genre star Leon Russell? I guess when you are a part of Brooks and Dunn, you can nonchalantly name drop whoever you want.
You can hear about all of that and more when you catch up on the most recent episode of the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast with Brooks and Dunn at the link below:
