It Won't Be Christmas Without You

Performer: Brooks & Dunn
Artist: Brent Mason; Aubrey Haynie; Bekka Bramlett; John Wesley Ryles
Engineer: Greg Droman
Distributor: BMG Special Products

Notes: Personnel: Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn (vocals); David Campbell (arranger, conductor); B. James Lowry (acoustic guitar); Kenny Greenberg, Brent Mason, Brent Rowan (electric guitar); Dan Dugmore, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Nashville String Machine (strings); Samuel B. Levine, Denis Solee (flute, tenor saxophone); Jim Horn (flute, baritone saxophone); Mike Haynes, Steve Patrick (trumpet); Barry Green (trombone); Steve Nathan (piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Michael Rhodes (bass); Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Deborah Allen, Bob Bailey, Bekka Bramlett, Lisa Cochran, Bruce Channel, John Wesley Ryles, Harry Stinson (background vocals). Producers: Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, Greg Droman. Recorded at Sound Kitchen and House Of Gain Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. IT WON'T BE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU finds Brooks and Dunn wisely foregoing the drippy, synth-laden production that ruins many contemporary country Christmas albums, instead relying on the neo-honky tonk sound that made the duo famous. Though there are several of the usual chestnuts here, the group's originals are often highlights, especially Ronnie Dunn's "It Won't be Christmas Without You," which shows the singer to be a powerful balladeer equally as talented as some of his better known pop contemporaries. Kix Brooks gets to strut his stuff on the funky "Rockin' Little Christmas," which features a New Orleans piano groove straight out of the Professor Longhair songbook. A Christmas album can often separate the men from the boys, and Brooks and Dunn prove themselves here by attacking even the most oft-covered tunes with aplomb. "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" gets the total Bob Wills makeover, complete with righteously swinging fiddles and jazzy key changes. To their credit, Brooks and Dunn treat IT WON'T BE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU as much more than holiday product; the joy they bring to what could easily have been a throwaway is truly a cause for celebration.

One of the most successful duos in country music history, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were put together in the early 1990s by former Arista Nashville label boss Tim DuBois, who thought the two singer-songwriters' styles would complement each other. The duo's sound--a mix of country harmonies, pop, rock and honky-tonk--made them superstars in the '90s, where they dominated the Vocal Duo category at every awards show. After two decades of success, both with the critics and on the charts, the duo broke up in 2009.

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