Ronnie Dunn stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about how songwriting has changed, recall talking photos of fans with Reba and more!
Over the years, writing songs has changed a lot in Nashville. 20 years ago, Dunn said no one sang about hard liquor in their songs. It was an unspoken rule and if you sang about alcohol, beer and wine were only mentioned. These days, it’s hard to find a country song that doesn’t mention whiskey, tequila, or any type of hard liquor. They would also talk about hooking up in songs, but it had a different meaning than it does today, and it wasn’t in the Urban dictionary yet.
Dunn doesn’t have much of a relationship with Dolly Parton but has met her a few times. He thinks it’s crazy that the only way people can get in contact with her is through fax. He said the best way to contact him is through text, and up until recently, he would sign off each text with his name, but his daughter busted him and told him people know who they are texting, and he doesn’t need to include his name.
Brooks & Dunn just wrapped up their 2023 Reboot Tour and will start it back up in May. After not touring for 10 years, he did not expect this tour to be as successful as it was. He said touring now is more fun than it’s ever been, and he thinks it’s because they got a chance to come up for air. After doing it every day for years, once they were able to step back and take a break, they were able to look at touring and writing music in a better way. Creatively, Dunn will still put pressure on himself to entertain well, have good vocals and write better songs. For the first few years of Brooks & Dunn, there was an awkwardness about who was going to sing which part of the songs. When they were putting out their first album, they asked their manager what they should do because they had about five songs that they were going to push to be singles. They came up with the plan to let Kix Brooks sing lead vocals on every fourth song. Over time, Brooks let Dunn take over the fourth song and who sang lead vocals didn’t become an issue anymore.
For the holidays, Dunn plans to bring his family to his farmhouse and let all his grandkids run around. It’s on a large piece of land surrounded by woods and he’ll sometimes hunt on the property. He does have some friends who are billionaires, and even when they go to dinner together, he insists on paying because he’ll feel bad if he doesn't. Bobby Bones and his wife feel like Dunn and his wife are mentors to them and they’ll get dinner together often and Dunn joked that fans would ask Bones for an autograph and not want anything from him. Dunn recalled how he used to go to Mexico with Reba and fans would ask him to take their picture with her and have no idea who he was!