Red Dirt Road (CD - 2003)

Additional personnel includes: Kenny Greenbery (acoustic & electric guitars); Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar, National slide guitar, banjo, mandolin); Dan Dugmore (acoustic guitar, dobro); Nick Casstevens, B. James Lowry (acoustic guitar); Pat Buchanon, J.T. Corenflas, John Jorgenson, Brent Mason, Lou Toomey (electric guitar); Jerry Douglas (dobro); Bill Kenner (mandola); Aubrey Haynie (fiddle); Jim Hoke (harmonica, accordion); Jeff Coffin, Jim Horn, Samuel Levine, Steve Patrick (horns); Steve Nathan (piano, Wurlitzer piano, keyboards, Hammond B-3 organ, organ, mellotron); Clayton Ivey (piano); Michael Rhodes, Glenn Worf (bass); Shannon Forrest (drums); Mark Wright (tambourine); Erick Darken (percussion); Robert Bailey, Bekka Bramlett, Perry Coleman, Vicki Hampton, Dan Tyminski(background vocals).

Producers: Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, Mark Wright.

"Red Dirt Road" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

Emboldened by the positive reaction to 2001's Steers and Stripes, where the venerated veteran country duo stretched their musical chops, Brooks & Dunn followed with a record that pushed even further and garnered greater musical achievement. Released in the summer of 2003, Red Dirt Road is a bit of a concept album, with Brooks & Dunn sketching out a nostalgic trip through their past and a tribute to their roots and upbringing. This isn't just conveyed by the lyrics, which contain offhanded references to '70s icons, including Born to Run; the music touches on a bunch of the duo's formative influences, whether it's the Keith Richards homage that kicks off the album opener, "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl," or the Stax horns that punctuate "Believer." Instead of sounding bound to tradition, Brooks & Dunn sound as musically invigorated as they did on Steers and Stripes, demonstrating nuance and muscle in equal measures; after all, they not only do modern country-rock better than their peers, they can pull off a dobro-driven honky tonk song like "My Baby's Everything I Love" with equal aplomb, and then dive into wry satire with the uncredited gospel satire "Holy War" that closes the album. It's not just the amalgam of styles that impresses, but it's the writing, which is as wide-ranging as the performances and just as convincing. Plus, the loose concept gives the album structure and focus, and this, added to the fine songwriting, means that Red Dirt Road is not just one of Brooks & Dunn's most ambitious records, it's also one of their best. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

That Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have rediscovered their roots is obvious from the first chords of RED DIRT ROAD's opening track "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl." It's down-home country with a little bit of rock & roll, a refreshing lack of Nashville gloss, and an exuberant chorus (one of the background vocalists is Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delanie & Bonnie, and the album resurrects some of that duo's Southern spirit).

The title track is a classic; all the timeless country elements are here--a bit of religion, a bit of mayhem, and a hearty dose of unapologetic sentimentality, blended together with the duo's trademark harmonies and an impeccable country-rock beat. The regretful, gospel-tinged "I Used to Know This Song By Heart" tugs at the heartstrings, while "When We Were Kings" borrows from Bruce Springsteen in its conjuring of greasy, rebellious, gloriously misspent youth. A healthy lack of studio trickery and back-to-basics instrumentation highlights Brooks & Dunn's ready way with a lyric and provides an intimate backdrop to RED DIRT ROAD's classy country. minimize