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Brooks & Dunn' Garner 4 CMA Nominations
Entertainer, Duo, Producer & Album of the Year for Red Dirt Road
Will Host "Country Music's Biggest Night"
Nashville: Though they're seemingly perennials in the Entertainer and
Duo of the Year category, Brooks & Dunn's deeply personal Red Dirt Road
-- whose title track was nominated for Song and Video of the Year at
last year's Country Music Association Awards -- picked up an Album of
the Year nomination in the highly competitive category, as well as the
pair joining co-producer Mark Wright in being recognized as producers.
And is if that weren't enough for the 27-million-selling duo, the men
who embody the heart of Saturday night were also tapped to host "The
38th Annual Country Music Assocation Awards," broadcast live on CBS on
Tuesday November 9.
"I don't care how many times they call your name, it's still a thrill,"
says Ronnie Dunn of the vocal chords that're all barbed wire and neon.
"And the idea that they'd actually let us host their party is about as
much fun as you get. It's one of those things, like being the
ringmaster, that kinda lets you have fun and honor your peers all at the
same time."
Brooks & Dunn picked up their first CMA Award during the first year of
Vince Gill's unprecedented 12 year run as the telecast's host. And along
the way, the Duo have been named Entertainer of the Year, shared in an
Album of the Year win -- and won 11 Duo of the Year awards out of their
43 total nominations. So, it's no wonder the Country Music Association
looked to the dynamic duo to anchor the night where they honor the
year's greatest achievements.
"You never know quite what Ron and I will do," says the stage-dusting
Louisiana showman Kix Brooks, "so the CMA is either very brave, or very
crazy. Either way, though, we're gonna have a good time and try to make
sure everybody else does, too. And in a way, it takes that sense of
'What are we up for?' off of us, because we're gonna have MUCH bigger
problems on November 9th."
Perhaps Kix Brooks protest a bit too much. In a rare lead review in The
Village Voice, the reviewer deemed the raucous pair "the Mick and Keith
of country music," hailing their "aggressively recasting Lollapalooza
freakiness into a traveling rodeo circus," while indie cred bible No
Depression proclaimed "Best of all (of 2003's releases) was Brooks &
Dunn's Red Dirt Road -- filled with transcendence and grace, much it
earned and little of it cheap," Rolling Stone opined, "For Brooks &
Dunn, traditional country is just a starting place, where you dig deep,
then fly high" and mainstream pulse-taker USA Today raved, "Red Dirt
Road succeeds on its own terms, with slide guitars and gospel vocals
powerfully accenting Brooks & Dunn's cranked up honky tonk."
With a major tour with breakout newcomer and quintuple CMA nominee
Gretchen Wilson and fellow Duo of the Year nominees and former opening
act Montgomery Gentry underway, Brooks & Dunn extend their host with the
most status onto the highway and into the heartland. Look for the
greatest show on 18 wheels anywhere country music lovers congregate --
and get ready to kick out the footlights once again! And if you're not
in their path, fear not: Nov. 9th-- live on CBS -- because with B&D at
the helm "The 38th Annual CMA Awards" will never be quite the same.
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