Brooks & Dunn Schedule Second Tour of Australia

Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn still can't believe that Australian audiences knew all the words to their songs when they toured the island country for the first time earlier this year. The duo, who played sold-out shows in late February and early March, is returning there in May 2009 for a four-city tour.

"They don't even have country radio down there, which is why we were kind of tentative in going there in the first place," Brooks explains. "We couldn't understand how they would be familiar with our music with just an hour or two a day of country music on their radio stations. But we did a set with 20-plus songs in it, and the audience remembered the words better than we did!

"That was one of the most fun times we've had playing music! It was very flattering, but we just didn't expect to get the response that we received. Honestly we have come away from there scratching our heads going 'Wow, how did that happen?' You know, we're not real sure we have the answer to that but we're thrilled to be going back."

"We sold triple the largest amount of merchandise per caps that we ever have," partner Ronnie Dunn adds, explaining that they found loyal fans Down Under. "That's what shocked us more than anything. I mean we found out we had some really big fans in and we were thrilled to learn that."

Dierks Bentley, who will be performing in Australia for the first time, is Brooks & Dunn's special guest on the tour. They'll kick it off in Perth on May 1, followed by a show in Melbourne on May 4. The show then travels to Sydney before closing in Brisbane on May 9.