For a time, Brooks & Dunn appeared to be old history. The duo broke up in 2009 and called it quits as a musical act. But Merle Haggard wasn't having any of that.
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Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks recently spoke with Whiskey Riff about the late music icon. They said that Haggard had a way about him. I'll just let Dunn explain!
Dunn said, "Merle Haggard came in the studio one time when we were working here in town (in Nashville). And he goes, 'You know, I'm a songwriter.' He was kind of pitching songs. (We were) like, 'You're a songwriter? You're Merle Haggard, man.'"
He continued, "As songwriters, I get where he was coming from because it's the music that takes you there. It's not your looks, or how you sing, it's not all that. People used to ask us back in the beginning, 'What would you want people to remember you by?' It's gonna be that music. That's why we're all here."
Brooks & Dunn On Merle Haggard
Meanwhile, Brooks opened up about Haggard got Brooks & Dunn back together after they decided to take a break. At the time, neither singer knew if they would reform the group or not. That's when Haggard stepped into the picture.
Brooks said, "Merle was kind of a father figure to us. When we did decide we were going to take a break, we really at one time didn't know if we were going to get back together or not. I just felt we were at that point in our lives. We needed to take a break from it."
He added, "Merle, I was talking to him one day and he just said, 'Hey, when are y'all getting back together?' (I said), 'I don't know Merle.' (Merle says), 'Listen to me, y'all got a thing. You got a thing. Everybody doesn't get to have a thing, okay? Y'all got one. Don't waste that.' I said, 'Yes sir,' and I was interviewing him, so I took that clip and sent it to Ronnie and said, 'We need to figure this thing out.'"
You can't argue with Haggard. Even Dunn agrees, "If Merle says you got a thing, you got a thing."
