Kix Brooks Chats With WYRK About His Album “New To This Town”

I had a chance to speak with Kix Brooks about his new album that has been released today. "New To This Town" is a twelve track collection that has some interesting surprises. One of which is one that unless you read the liner notes, you might miss.Kix produced the album along with his friend from Rascal Flatts, Jay DeMarcus and if I were to sum up the sound of the entire project it would be "funky." Just take a listen to "Moonshine Road" and you'll get what I mean. It's almost impossible to listen and not wait to hear Ronnie Dunn pop in somewhere. Kix's voice offers the same gritty sound to the songs that was the perfect match to Ronnie Dunn on the duos albums. Now that Kix is out on his own, it appears that he is spreading his wings to write and sing about what fits his personality. A laid back sort of simplistic take on his experiences with life and love. "There's The Sun" is a perfect example of that. I got a sort of lazy, hot, Sunday feeling when I was listening to it.

The album does have it's roughneck/cowboy tunes. "Complete 360" is reminiscent of B and D's "Brand New Man" with a twist. It's as if you were listening to "Brand New Man" in reverse. Songs like "Tattoo" show off Kix's lighter side. Which if you listen to his countdown show you know is larger than most artists.

One the benefits of being Kix Brooks is having great connections. The list of songwriters and artists that he has featured on this album is incredible. From David Lee Murphy to Rhett Akins, Joe Walsh to Jay DeMarcus, no doubt Kix is well respected and liked within the Nashville community. Let's be honest, after having so much success as a partner in Brooks and Dunn, going out on your own has to be as challenging as it is exciting. With the group of names he has included on this project and collection of songs he recorded for it, I think Kix can be confident in his ability to leap any hurdle that comes his way.