Ronnie Dunn Has the ‘Write’ Stuff

Ronnie Dunn has been writing Brooks & Dunn hits (along with a few gifts for other artists) for years. The Oklahoma native has stretched his songwriting prowess to co-pen songs ranging from the inspiring 'Believe' to the feel-good 'Play Something Country,' and the coming of age 'Red Dirt Road.' When it came to his self-titled solo debut, the 58-year-old continued to be creative, co-writing nine out of the 12 tracks on the project, including 'I Don't Dance.'

"I've had that title for a long time," Ronnie tells The Boot. "Craig Wiseman was over one day with David Lee Murphy, and you're thinking that the three of us together, something is going to come kicking out of there on the rowdy side. I was reaching up to grab a bottle of water and I yelled back at them, 'What about 'I don't dance?'"

Something as nonchalant as that led to the creation of the album's second track. "I said, 'We do it with a twist: one verse you talk about how you don't dance, but the crux of the story is that it's a love story about how you're going to stay true to love,'" Ronnie continues. "It's not a cheating song at all. It's about how hard to face temptation and all the other demonic things I see."

However, Ronnie recognized the importance of cutting outside songs for the project, as well. "I kept recording all these songs and writing songs; I got 34 of them," he says. "I'd bring them in to the label thinking, 'I'm through.' The guys at the label kept saying, 'Give me one more.' After a while, I figured out that we were going through 'first single anxiety.' They were really trying to ensure that I did not come out sounding like I had in the past. The only way to do that is to have a song that is different enough to dictate it. 'Once' was an attempt for them to do that. And 'Bleed Red' was the other. Those are two songs that I wasn't involved in writing.

"It's a part of chaos [being an artist]. What a fine line there is between artistry and insanity," Ronnie continues with a laugh. "There's no formula for it, and a lot of people when they're around you -- even those closest to you -- when you're in that whirl of creativity and you're grabbing those things out of the air, there's no rational process."

Different songs require the writer and the artist to get into a certain head-space. This, of course, causes the all-to-well-known 'tortured artist.' Luckily, Ronnie doesn't find himself in that category. "It evolves ... sometimes," he says, smiling. "I hope [I'm] not. I can see where that can be sometimes, because [the songwriting process] can be confusing at times, because you never know. I write so many songs, and then I turn around and go, 'When this project is over, I'm going to go right back in a straight line to that little bin over there and pick up some more hit songs.' It doesn't work that way. It's an arbitrary -- to say the least -- process."