"Boot Scootin' Boogie" remains a stand out in the Brooks & Dunn catalog. But it was one that the duo had some reservations about releasing. The song ended up being the fourth single on their Brand New Man album.
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They didn't choose it as the lead because Brooks & Dunn were scared that the song was going to be a flop. They didn't have a lot of confidence in the tune at all.
"We were afraid of 'Boot Scoot,' and the label was, to release it. That's why they made it the fourth single on the first record," Ronnie Dunn told Taste of Country Nights host Evan Paul. "They were afraid that it was too, I don't know — progressive is not the word — but just kinda pushing the limits, too much, isn't that crazy?"
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However, Kix Brooks says that fans ultimately decided that the song was a hit.
"The fans made that happen, too. We were playing clubs actually, that was our first year of touring," Brooks recalled.
"By the time we got to 'Boot Scoot,' I just remember going to clubs and people having posters and stuff, I know they were lighting up radio stations," Brooks says. "Finally, they said, 'Hey, it's time to put this one out.'"
The song ended up being a massive success. It reached No. 1 on Billboard's U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. It also reached No. 1 on Canadian country charts.
As Brooks & Dunn later told Wide Open Country, it's ultimately the fans that decide the trajectory of an artist.
Brooks said, "They're either going to like it. They may like that song, and they may give that artist that shot. But ultimately if there's longevity, if there's a career there, the fans are going to decide if this is an artist that we really believe. Because that's the biggest thing. They can smell a gimmick. If they feel like this is just something we can get at a fair then it's probably not a career. It may be a big ole hit. It may be two big hits. Those are the ones we've all seen come and go. For the most part, there's a lot of good artists that maybe didn't have a good follow up hit like that."
