Yahoo Lifestyle What Country Duo Brooks & Dunn Told Taylor Swift After She Covered Their Song (Exclusive)
Brooks & Dunn are longtime fans of Taylor Swift.
The country duo, which consists of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, open up about what they told the 14-time Grammy winner, 35, after she famously covered their song "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" more than a decade ago while chatting exclusively with Parade about their most recent album, Reboot II, their upcoming Neon Moon tour and more.
"I just told her how proud I was of her for doing that stuff, and big thanks," Dunn, 71, tells Parade. "It's funny. [Kix and I] caught ourselves being pigeonholed strictly for the sake of the public, [and an] emphasis is put on [us] being Brooks & Dunn the duo. Well, we're songwriters … That's where it gets really exciting to hear somebody do one of your songs that you wrote."
Brooks, 69, goes on to tell Parade that working with younger country artists who span across multiple genres — much like Swift has as she crossed over from her early days as a country cutie to her present-day status as bonafide international pop icon — has been something that helped inspire their latest album, which was released in November last year.
Some of the artists they collaborated with include Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen, Megan Moroney, Jelly Roll, HARDY and more.
"It is a lot more mainstream, but I would say the lines are blurred in pretty much every genre of music," Brooks tells Parade. "I think that especially with streaming and people making their own playlist, it always starts with young listeners. The majority of young listeners don't listen to FM radio like we did back in the day when FM was the only place you could hear [new] music, and that's where you were really turned on to it."
Brooks — who serves as the VP of Hope On The Inside (HOTI), a nonprofit founded by former inmate Briana Calhoun, who has dedicated her career to empowering others within the correctional system — adds, "Now, with streaming and Spotify and Pandora and [social media] like Instagram and TikTok, there's a million places [to find new music.] For young listeners, young fans, they don't really categorize it."
Not only have Brooks & Dunn collaborated with some of the top names in music, the twosome also just performed with some of the biggest artists in country, including Luke Combs, Old Dominion and more at the Boots in the Park Festival earlier this month. They also won a CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, making them tied with Chris Stapleton for the most-ever CMA Award wins with a total of 19.
"We really look forward to [playing festivals] because we have a lot of coliseums and that kind of thing on our tour this year, but when you see those festivals pop up on the calendar, you're like, 'Yeah, that's good,' because it represents that whole fun, free spirit about playing live," Brooks says of playing Boots in the Park.
He adds: "I went to so many festivals back in the day. It's just something that still stirs up great memories for me of going and seeing my favorite acts, and just everybody outside and rocking. Festivals are just really fun for us to play."
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