Brooks & Dunn Weigh In On Mixed-Genre Artists Like Jelly Roll, Beyoncé And More in Country: “Fans Are Going To Decide”

Brooks & Dunn have been in the country music space for decades. They’re living legends, so they know a thing or two about the industry. With all the talks about what is country music this year and the rise of mixed-genre artists in the space, we thought we would ask the two their opinion it.

Speaking with Wide Open Country, Brooks & Dunn are in favor of any artist getting their chance to try to make a career in the space.

Ronnie Dunn said, “Everybody out there has an opinion on what it does. I don’t see the negative dynamic to it. Let other people make those statements and judgements. I’m going to come at it as an artist and creative type. At the same time, I was born in West Texas, grew up Texas and Oklahoma. There’s rock music out there too and different slants on what country should be. Let it eat. It’s all going to come back.”

Brooks & Dunn Weigh In

Meanwhile, Kix Brooks said that fans change over time. New generations have their own heroes and develop their own interests in the space.

He said, “Fans change. Because fans get older and young fans come in. That’s always been the way this wheel turns. And fans have ultimately always said this about people who are throwing rocks on some artist that’s not classic, that hasn’t been been here forever, artists today that may have their start on TikTok or whatever. Stop throwing rocks. We have millions of fans out there, and they’re going to decide.”

Dunn agrees, “The market place is going to decide.”

Brooks weighed more on the issue. The difference between a career and a gimmick lies solely in the hands of the fans, according to Brooks & Dunn.

Brooks said, “They’re either going to like it. They may like that song, and they may give that artist that shot. But ultimately if there’s longevity, if there’s a career there, the fans are going to decide if this is an artist that we really believe. Because that’s the biggest thing. They can smell a gimmick. If they feel like this is just something we can get at a fair then it’s probably not a career. It may be a big ole hit. It may be two big hits. Those are the ones we’ve all seen come and go. For the most part, there’s a lot of good artists that maybe didn’t have a good follow up hit like that.”

With their new album Reboot II, Brooks & Dunn is letting loose a bit and having a bit of fun along the way. Brooks explained, “With a record like Reboot II, that’s where we hope we’ve been here long enough — e’ve stayed true to what we do long enough — that let us have a little fun here and see if you can’t have some fun with us.”

The album drops on November 15.