It was way back in 1991 that country music duo Brooks and Dunn released their debut album, Brand New Man. Over the three-plus decades since then, country music has undergone a lot of changes. In a recent exclusive interview with VICE, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn opened up about the state of country music today, and explained the impact technology has had on the genre in recent years has been a very “good thing” for them.
“I think if anything that it’s positive,” Dunn replied when asked if he thinks anything “has been lost or sacrificed” to the rise of digital and streaming. Brooks added that they feel there’s “nothing wrong with access.”
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“Especially as time marches on and one thing’s led to another, that’s kind of helped us with the younger audience,” Brooks added, then name-dropping a few modern artists — like Post Malone — who’ve also helped keep their name and image in circulation. “Fortunately we’ve gotten a lot of support from Morgan [Wallen] and Luke Combs and Jelly Roll, and people that wear our hats and t-shirts.”
“A modern audience has access through technology,” Brooks reiterated, “and you can’t stop technology anyway so, you know, get on board and ride with it.”
Dunn pointed out that “it used to be not that long ago there was only one outlet for music primarily, either live in person or the radio,” however, “That’s not the case anymore so that’s that’s the ticket in terms of just really opening up things up.” Commenting on how things used to work, Dunn explained, “You’d do a song, it’d be a hit, [then] it’s gone. That’s it.”
Now, though, Dunn sees artists “coming back to the status that they were [at] when they were popular in other venues.” He finally added, “So, yeah, bring it. It’s good. It’s a good
thing.”
