Brooks & Dunn: Midland Were ‘Fun and Games’ in the Studio for ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’
Midland, 2018 ACM Awards New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year winners, met the country duo with the most ACM Awards, Brooks & Dunn, to cover the iconic line-dancing hit "Boot Scootin' Boogie" for Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn's collaborative new album Reboot. The duo and their manager, Clarence Spalding, left it up to each of the selected artists to choose which Brooks & Dunn song they wanted to cover.
"I think everybody kind of had their own spin," Brooks told The Boot in an interview last month, noting that the guys of Midland -- Jess Carson, Cameron Duddy and Mark Wystrach -- were quite familiar with the 1991 single.
"They said, 'That’s just a song we’ve sung before a lot. It’s fun. I wanted to do it with you,'" Brooks adds. But, Midland not only wanted to sing the song with the two '90s country aficionados, but play all the parts.
"Those guys are pretty much fun and games anyway," Brooks says. "They all came in, they all wanted to play on the song. We had session players there, and everybody’s willing to let ‘em do their deal."
In the end, Brooks & Dunn and Midland came out with a modernized duet, accentuated with tinkling piano keys, fiddle and electrifying guitar. Press play above to listen to the track, one of 12 collaborations on Reboot, which was released in early April.
Written by Dunn and originally recorded by Asleep at the Wheel, "Boot Scootin' Boogie" was Brooks & Dunn's fourth single from their debut album, Brand New Man. It became their fourth consecutive No. 1 song.
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