Tight Rope

Performer: Brooks & Dunn
Artist: Glenn Worf
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Brooks & Dunn: Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn (vocals, guitar) Additional personnel: Larry Byrom, Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar); Brent Mason, B. James Lowry (electric guitar); Bruce C. Bouton, Paul Fanklin (pedal & lap steel guitars); Aubrey Haynie, Rob Hajacos, Larry Franklin (fiddle); John Barlow Jarvis (piano, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Mike Brignardello, Glenn Worf (bass); Lonnie Wilson (drums, percussion); Robert Bailey, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton, John Wesley Ryles, Dennis Wilson, Curtis Young (background vocals). Producers: Byron Gallimore, Don Cook, Kix Brooks, Ronnie Dunn. Principally recorded at Ocean Way and The SoundShop Studio A, Nashville, Tennessee. "You'll Always Be Loved By Me" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal. Six studio albums and one greatest-hits collection into their career, Brooks & Dunn have the formula down pat: a few revved-up honky-tonkers, a whole lotta heartbreak ballads, and the occasional story song. But on TIGHT ROPE, the two change their methods a bit. Instead of collaborating on songwriting, Kix and Ronnie split up to work with other writers. The difference is notable, with the clear winner being Kix Brooks. From the blues-rock groove of "Temptation #9," to the mournful "Can't Stop My Heart," to the brilliant "Texas and Norma Jean," Kix's songs--all of which he takes lead vocals on--run the gamut of emotions, and his voice has never sounded better. While Ronnie's vocals are always terrific, the soulful and weighty "Hurt Train" proves to be a better vehicle for his voice than the jokey "Goin' Under Gettin' Over You" or "Beer Thirty." But overall, TIGHT ROPE is the best evidence yet that Brooks & Dunn isn't simply Ronnie and the "other guy"--Brooks deserves major kudos for the job he's done here.

Entertainment Weekly (9/24/99, p.147) - "...when Ronnie Dunn launches into his three-minute soliloquies on relationships gone wrong...the world slows to the tempo of tears." - Rating: Bt

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.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5