DETROIT (Billboard) – Despite a superstar foundation from his 20 years in the country duo Brooks & Dunn, Ronnie Dunn says that he went into his new solo career "scared to death."
Dunn, 58, released his self-titled debut album on Tuesday, on the heels of the top-10 success of its first single "Bleed Red."
"I think fear and insecurity are great motivators," Dunn told Billboard.com. "I worked overtime -- not that I have to -- to stay neurotic. I never take anything for granted. I look at my age. I look at the length of time that we were in the marketplace with Brooks & Dunn, and I don't know how people are going to accept me and I don't assume in any way they're gonna come running to this project."
Dunn and Kix Brooks announced their break-up plans in 2009, and performed their final concert a year later in September 2010, capping a career that yielded 23 No. 1 country hits and album sales of more than 30 million copies. The duo said at the time that it was "just time," and denied any bad blood.
Dunn recorded 34 songs for "Ronnie Dunn," writing or co-writing nine of the album's 12 tracks. He also produced the album and played most of the guitar solos, and he says that, neuroses aside, he genuinely enjoyed being the captain rather than a collaborator this time out.
"I'm comfortable in the studio -- probably more comfortable there than anywhere else," he said. "I was just like a kid in a candy store and didn't have to work through the committee and the natural process of working with a group or someone else -- including another producer. That was fun."
Some of the songs date back a ways. The socially conscious "Cost of Livin'," the album's second single, first came to him in 2008, when Dunn re-wrote Phillip Coleman's original chorus and hook. "I Can't Help Myself," meanwhile, was pitched for several Brooks & Dunn albums but never made the final cut.
Dunn has been enjoying touring on his own, downsizing from basketball arenas to casinos seating upwards of 2,500 people.
"And they're a blast," Dunn said. "I can stop, talk to the crowd, tell 'em stories. That was obviously not my role (in Brooks & Dunn); both of us couldn't get up there and tell stories between every songs, and Kix by nature fell into that position. So it's fun and challenging to assume that role. So far it's the most fun I've ever had."
0 comments:
Post a Comment