Brooks & Dunn's "Today" Finally Comes…

Black-Out Make Up Is Thanksgiving Ramp-Up Nov. 22

New York: First the lights went out. Then they wouldn't let the plane take off. And suddenly, Brooks & Dunn's late summer "Today Show" Summer Concert Series performance was unplugged and grounded in the very worst way. As Manhattan was paralyzed by the black-out, Brooks & Dunn scrambled to patch together gear to do a homecoming show in Kix Brooks' hometown that weekend, because their trucks -- already in New York -- couldn't get loaded.

"It was a real drag, because we were ready to rock Rockefeller Center," says vocal ninja Ronnie Dunn of the power-tenor that will not quit.

Thankfully, the quadruple Country Music Association Award nominees -- Entertainer and Duo, plus Song and Video of the Year for their #1 Brooks/Dunn-penned embracement of recognizing the wisdom along the way that is their mandolin-steeped "Red Dirt Road" -- are still ramped and ready. And on Saturday Nov. 22, Brooks & Dunn are all set to take Manhattan and show the Big Apple how to honky tonk the hard way.

"We had the option to go inside and strip it back," says Kix Brooks of the decision to get out in the street in the pre-Thanksgiving cold. "But that's just NOT what we DO! If we're going to New York City, then we're gonna bring it on. We wanna give them the full-tilt Brooks & Dunn Neon Circus energy, and that's just not a polite inside kind of thing. So, we're gonna load up, load in and have a ball."

Get ready for three songs -- including their CMA nominated "Red Dirt Road," the Rolling Stones-esque "You Can Take The Girl Out of the Honky Tonk" and one of their classic B&D ravers -- no waiting. Because after all the trauma, drama and chaos, these guys are fixing to take names.

"You get a whole different kind of fired up for New York City," confesses Dunn with a laugh. "There's something about the energy on those streets that makes you just wanna get out there and tear it up. And actually being able to play on the streets of New York, well, that's some pretty cool stuff. So, like my partner said, we're loading up and getting after it."

With Red Dirt Road -- certified gold in just two short weeks -- receiving massive critical mass from Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Sound & Vision, Entertainment Weekly, People and USA Today, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks' excavation of the music that forged their hard-charging take on the sound of Saturday night gets a major fuel injection for the wake-up and get your weekend started appearance. Until then, though, you can catch them as part of CBS News's primetime magazine show "48 Hours" focusing on country's biggest stars in the days leading up to CMAs, then watch'em burn down "You Can't Take The Girl Out Of The Honky Tonk" on the 37th Annual Country Music Association Awards, broadcast live Nov. 5 on CBS.

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