Twenty-eight years ago, in 1993, the famed country duo Brooks & Dunn made headlines as their debut album, Brand New Man, hit 3 million copies sold. Originally released on Aug. 13, 1991, the certified triple platinum album has now sold more than 6 million copies to date. The same year of the duo’s multiplatinum success, the album also won an ACM trophy for Album of the Year. Another song in the lineup, “Boot Scoot Boogie,” received an ACM for Single of the Year.
Brooks & Dunn consists of the country masterminds Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who wrote all 10 of the songs featured on their award-winning album, according to The Boot.
While reminiscing about the album’s release, Brooks shared with CMT an important moment to the duo’s career.
“I remember Bill Anderson was doing a radio show at Opryland when we first got started,” Brooks said. “‘Brand New Man’ had really taken off. He said, ‘Boys, do you know what it means to have your career song as your very first single?’ We looked at each other. ‘It’s over?! Dang, Bill!’ He just put a period on our career with our first dang song.”
Even though the album and song “Brand New Man” would remain as Brooks & Dunn’s top hit, the country stars had plenty of other successful singles, like “Neon Moon,” “Ain’t Nothin’ About You,” “Red Dirt Road” and many more.
Brooks & Dunn Hit Gets Brand New Take
Covering a classic country song is nothing new in the genre. Plenty of artists have added their own sound to songs like Old Crow and Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” or Tom Cochrane’s “Life Is a Highway.” In the case for Darius Rucker and Rascal Flatts, the new artists even end up creating the more popular versions. However, not many covering artists record the song with its original vocalists.
While still considered one of country’s best hits, the track that gave Brooks & Dunn’s Brand New Man album its namesake recently received a makeover. In 2019, the young country star, Luke Combs, paired up with the famous country duo to create a new rendition of “Brand New Man.”
Even from the first note the trio hits, the song sends goosebumps down the spine. With added musical tracks and a more complex harmonization, the recent version of the song bridges the gap between classic 90’s country with today’s new sounds.
Combs’ gritty voice adds an extra element to Brooks & Dunn’s sweet-as-syrup twang, too. All three voices on the track complement each other–almost as if they’ve been performing together for years. Now that Combs and B & D have broken ground revamping a classic track together, it leaves country fans hoping to hear more intergenerational compilations in the future.
