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Music

Perfect country-pop combo still has it

By Rick Gershman
Published November 12, 2006

They're the dead-on combo of traditional country and pop appeal, the perfect mainstream honky-tonk act that has remained stronger than ever.

This tour's nicknamed "The Long Haul," and Brooks & Dunn delivered winners in style from their 15-year run Saturday night at a packed Ford Ampitheatre.

They dove into hits from their 2005 album Hillbilly Deluxe (the award-winning Believe, Play Somethin' Country) to the title cut from Red Dirt Road and live favorites My Maria and Boot Scootin' Boogie, just to name a few.

To say that the pair came off as professional as showmen can get seems almost like a knock. They're pros, but clearly they're still having insane amounts of fun.

It was another infallibly energetic performance, from the rave-ups to the ballads, suggesting these boys still have plenty of boogie left.

I'm not saying I wasn't entirely convinced before, but ... okay, I wasn't.

Hey, sorry. It's not the kind of Johnny Cash/Waylon Jennings country my dad played me when I was a kid, and it's certainly not the kind of country - the Steve Earle/Whiskeytown Americana kind - I dug in my postpunk adulthood.

It's not even entirely the crossover poppy-tarty kind of country I kind of enjoy from Shania Twain and Faith Hill.

But Brooks & Dunn? What to make of these guys?

Well, they're insanely popular and acclaimed in their genre: Note the record-setting 19 Country Music Association awards, including three in this, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn's 15th year as a duo.

Note that they packed the Ford Amphitheatre again Saturday night, even though they seem to perform here something like every other weekend.

Note the enduring sex appeal, even though the guys are both in their 50s.

And there's always a place for that.

[Last modified November 12, 2006, 12:09:52]