Brooks and Dunn: Cowboy Town

The latest CD from Brooks and Dunn, Cowboy Town, is just what you would expect from this superstar duo – rowdy drinking songs, heartfelt ballads and rocking honky-tonk, 

The title song on the album, “Cowboy Town,” sets the mood for the remaining tracks. Blue collar guys standing up to life: 

“Dirt, mud and dust
Blues and beer
Outlaws, barbed wire, saddles and steers
It’s a simple life but it’s sacred ground
Hard times, high winds can’t bring us down
In cowboy town, yeah, cowboy town…”  

There are several rocking songs that pay homage to alcohol and hard-drinking, like “Tequila” and ”The Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker” and “Johnny Cash Junkie (Buck Owens Freak”) looks at the influence of these, and other, country stars on the music. 

The song, “Proud of the House We Built,” was released as a single and has been a big hit in the same way as the duo’s other hits like, “My Maria” and “Brand New Man.”  Two of the best tracks feature Dunn’s distinctive vocals – “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and the albums final cut, “God Must Be Busy.”  This last song mentions many of the world’s ills and while not providing solutions, looks at the spiritual side: 

“The anchorman says they’re fighting again
Somewhere in the Middle East
The world prays for peace
There’s a single mom, just got laid off
Went and lost her job to some foreign hands
In some far away land
Last night in Oklahoma
Some twister took thirteen
And they’re praying they find the missing three
God must be busy…” 

Brooks and Dunn have sold more than 30 million albums and they have shelves of awards including several Grammy awards and multiple CMA and AMC awards.  Not only are they consistent performers (especially Ronnie Dunn’s vocals) but they are terrific songwriters, co-writing almost all of the songs on this album.  They released their first album in 1991 and continue to provide truly good music. It’s clear they enjoy what they do – and so do millions of their fans.