Brand New Man

Buck Billo and Maxi sing “Brand New Man” by Brooks and Dunn. The undisputed kings of the ’90s line-dancing craze, Brooks & Dunn are not only the biggest-selling duo in country music history, they’ve also sold more records than any other duo period, save for Simon & Garfunkel. Ronnie Dunn was the quietly intense singer with the soulful voice, while Kix Brooks played the part of the high-energy showman. Neither had been able to break through as a solo act, but together they hit upon a winning formula of rambunctious, rocked-up honky tonk with punchy, danceable beats, and alternated those cuts with smooth, pop-tinged ballads. The combination made them one of the most popular country artists of the ’90s, and they were still going strong as the new millennium dawned. Leon Eric “Kix” Brooks (born in Shreveport, LA) and Ronnie Gene Dunn (born in Coleman, TX) arrived in Nashville from very different backgrounds. Brooks was a neighbor of Johnny Horton and first began singing with the country legend’s daughter at age 12; after a time working on the Alaskan oil pipeline, he moved to Maine and performed in ski resorts and other local venues. He went to Nashville in the early ’80s and found success as a songwriter, penning hits for John Conlee, Highway 101, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, among others; however, his solo recordings — a few small-label singles in 1983 and a self-titled album in 1989 — failed to make any impact. Dunn, meanwhile, had been playing with traditional string …