Ronnie Dunn Not Touring Behind New Album

Ronnie Dunn just released his latest album, 'Peace Love and Country Music,' but the singer says there's a good reason why he won't tour to support his new project.

“This year we had like 65 or 70 dates on the calendar, all lined up,” he explains to Country Weekly. “It was kind of feeling like the same ol’, same ol’. It’s like what can I do to beat what I’ve already done? [Reba McEntire's husband/manager] Narvel [Blackstock] said, ‘Why don’t you just back off? Why don't you stop and be still and see what happens.’ He said, ‘Any time we’ve caught ourselves being frustrated over the years, we have encouraged Reba to stop and sit back. Inevitably something drops out of the sky.’”

The former one-half of the legendary duo Brooks & Dunn has released the second single, 'I Wish I Still Smoked Cigarettes,' from his latest record.

“When that song came to me, it was pitched from Charles [Kelley] from Lady Antebellum,” he recalls. “One of the writers on the song is Luke Laird, who is one of my favorite guys. My daughter used to date Luke. I didn’t even know he was a songwriter. He has gone on to do really well, so it’s been fun to see his success. But that song is one of those special songs that I feel is Grammy worthy, whether it gets it or not.”

'Peace Love and Country Music' follows Dunn's 2011 self-titled album, which was his first release as a solo artist since Brooks & Dunn split up. The tunesmith chose to release his new record independently, which he says will give him the freedom to share his music on his terms.

“We are going to make music available to you in different and unique ways," he reveals. "Our goal is to create a MUSIC CULTURE, guided by a lifestyle philosophy. There are no rules.”

The 60-year-old relied on his fans to help him pick songs for his latest record.

“I really wanted fans to have a say in which songs I put on this album,” he says. “I put a few songs out on social media to see what people liked, or maybe what they didn’t respond to, and we built the album from there.”

Download 'Peace Love and Country Music' here.