This is long but came from a good friend and fan with the best of intentions. You want honesty, here it goes. There isnt one problem, one solution to this. There is no black and white. Its multidimensional. You quit one of the greatest, most successful, most popular acts of all time. B&D was multi-generational music that meant something to people. It wasnt all honkytonk bar burning and it wasnt all sentimental stuff either. So many greats songs about so many awesome things it reach everybody on one level or another. Play Something Country not somebodys style? They could listen to She Used To Be Mine or The Long Goodbye and it would strike something and vice versa. Thats what new artists are missing. Its one subject, trucks, girls, parties, the good stuff, moonlight blah blah blah. No substance. None. But when yall ended B&D people were very unsure of how to take you. It was a clean slate. Your first cd was decent, it had 2-3 good radio songs on it. The rest not so much. People liked Bleed Red and Cost Of Livin. Then right as Let The Cowboy Rock is when you got into it with Sony, left and immediately started bashing radio, bashing some things about B&D, bashing labels etc. You bashing B&D really turned a lot of fans off. You were tarnishing something they loved. And it wasnt just some idiot bashing it, it was the more talented half of B&D. The bashing radio and labels is what got you kicked off the air obviously. It hurt your entire image with the average country music fan. And you and Kixs feud looks really bad and even petty. Why not make an appearance together? Walk into an award show together? Post something on social media together? Not anything that would give the implication of yall getting back together, but something to show that all was good in the land of B&D. Youve made several comments on twitter about it being definitely over or not getting back together etc. Why? Even if you arent why say it? It doesnt look good on you. Kix has complimented you even recently on twitter and no response or nothing? And I definitely dont think it was all you, it takes 2 to tango . But repairing damage done with everybody involved in that should probably be a priority. Dont know if it was your age that had as much to do with you not getting air time as much as it was you blasting labels, radio, kix and B&D in general. It was pretty obvious that you carried the talent, kix carried the charisma. And all this is coming from someone who HATES country radio today. Cant stand it. I listen to pandora or prime country on XM radio. Again, being perfectly honest, your new album doesnt really seem like something youd do. Some songs yes, some no. Not a fan of country this, kiss you there etc. Im a fan of Cadillac Bound, Country Music In Texas etc. None of the songs youve put out are as good as stuff like My Maria, That Aint No Way To Go, Boot Scootin Boogie, Aint Nothin Bout You, Red Dirt Road, Neon Moon etc. Nothing on radio today holds a candlestick to any of those songs. I heard you sing the good stuff on one of your songs and almost drove my truck into a ditch. Your music youre putting out now is not as good as the stuff you sang with B&D. Its as good as the songs like Hurt Train, Used To Know This Song By Heart, Johnny Cash Junkie, Tequila, White Line Casanova, Brand New Whiskey, but nothing as good as the popular songs. You can stand on a stage with a microphone and no band, no guitar, no nothing and keep the entire audience wide eyed and in awe. I saw it in Tulsa when you sang You Dont Know Me. No matter what anybody plays on any radio station artist out there can do that. Little Will-E records seems unorganized. The whole fan driven thing seems unorganized. Just seems all over the map. Well, since you left Sony everything is a little all over the map. Your promoting is all over the place on songs and what songs youre pushing. Hard to keep up with what youre doing, where youre going etc. Still not sure what the heck was going on in Africa that was so important that you had to be there the same week as the final Strait show. That was something special. But youve done your time all these years making appearances all over the planet. So youve earned the right to choose. I dont think music is a young mans game. You trying to tell me if B&D was still going you wouldnt get air time? Thats crazy. Fans are starving for music like that. Fans are starving for a Ronnie/Reba duet. Dont try and go new school, the old school was perfect. If it aint broke dont fix it right? So you quit B&D cause you were ready to do your own thing, what you wanted. Now youre saying you put songs on the album that you thought radio wanted? So you still didnt do what you wanted? Thats confusing. You put out a brand new album, played 2 awesome Strait shows and then vanished off the face of the earth. Dont see how that helps your album at all. Make amends with the your old running crowd, all of em. Stop being independent bad boy with that chip on his shoulder. Be the old Ronnie everybody grew to love for all those years. Dont change to play the game. Make the game change because of what youre doing. No matter what Ill buy and promote your albums. Ill listen to your music and go to your concerts. Still cant thank you enough for the Tulsa tickets. It was a once in a lifetime experience and came at the perfect time cause work was beating me down. We had the time of our lives and it was because of your generosity, which you definitely didnt have to do. Im very grateful. Youre still the man. Just come back! There are great songs on this album that can be promoted. Cadillac Bound, You Dont Know Me, Thou Shalt Not etc. Everything I just said was constructive criticism by the way. In no way malicious and it was all from a fans point of view, I could be 100% wrong on all of it. You still have a lot to offer country music, gotta go about it the right way! Have a good one and come back to Texas asap! #1. Thank you for the kind words. Most of what youve said is spot on. I will never bash B&D, it was literally a dream come true and one of the greatest rides in country music history. For that I am forever humbled and grateful. I didnt just walk away from Brooks and Dunn. REUNION….The Eagles said it best, when hell freezes over. #2. Im not going to bash Kix for his business decisions. Hes said it and I will say it….were like brothers and always will be. Were may not always going to see eye to eye. .…what I said about the power struggle between Cumulus (Kixs employer) and Clear Channel is a FACT. Clear Channel is not going to play an artist that is a high profile employee of their biggest competitor, Cumulus. PLAY SOMETHING COUNTRY was B&Ds last #1 song….not sour grapes, FACT. I brought notice to the issue because it was, in fact the primary catalyst that led to B&Ds radio demise. We stopped getting critical across the board airplay. I sincerely believe that Kix thought that his position with Cumulus might actually help ? The news about the airplay dilemma came straight from the horses mouth and from a leader at the top of one of the above mentioned conglomerates. The competition between radio groups has become fierce. #3. LWR Unorganized, online initiative. I brought in some of the most powerful online marketing people in the world to advise us as to how to go about making an online scenario work. No one knows exactly how to go about it. It is a work in progress and it is an uphill climb. I think the word label as we know it, is antiquated and will become extinct. ***Subscription based entities like Spotify and Pandora, like em or not, are working. #4. Sony….ran out of money. Thats what they told me. Have they broken a new act lately ? I really dont know. I dont pay attention anymore. I had a great relationship with the promotion department. Sony changed leadership just as I came out of the chute and the ground shifted under our feet. I wasnt comfortable there. I was advised by numerous, experienced mentors to step away. I didnt make that choice on my own. #5. My own thing…I just try to write and record the best songs that I can. Im proud of Bleed Red and Cost Of Living. I like the first project. People who actually BUY music in todays market buy it a song at a time for the most part, not whole cds. I like the songs on the second cd. I was still playing to radio with KISS YOU THERE and a few others. I partnered with a radio promo team in the hopes of bridging the gap between a digital transition and old school practices. It was a disaster. I hear that there are acts that are playing upwards of 100 free radio shows in a years time. Thats extortion and payola, plain and simple. Its the norm in todays environment. I wont play that game. GROWN DAMN MAN is my theme song. I got honest and said what and how I feel. Its simple but says a lot. Labels sell what people buy. People arent buying hardcore country music right now. They may not be into buying Ronnie Dunn period. I havent thrown in the towel… Im just trying to sit still. I went at it with with all I had. I dont know what else to do ? Maybe some magician will swoop in and straighten it all out. If not, I had a phenomenal twenty year run in a business that chews people up and spits them out at the speed of light. Lucky me !! RD
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 12:11:19 +0000