Remember when Taylor Swift used to be a country artist? It feels like ages ago when she wasn't the unequivocally the biggest artist in the world. People didn't obsess over her various relationships, it was solely about the music back then. Taylor had her trusty acoustic guitar and a dream to rise in the music industry. As she grew bigger though, she stepped away from Nashville and leaned more towards the pop side of things. Back in 2010, she gave one of her last nods to the genre by covering the Brooks & Dunn record "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You." Now, the duo is speaking on what that moment means to them and what they said to Swift.
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Recently, the iconic country pair spoke with Parade Magazine promoting their Neon Moon tour and their last album Reboot II. When asked about the Taylor Swift cover, Ronnie reveals what he talked about with the pop star. "I just told her how proud I was of her for doing that stuff, and big thanks," Dunn says. "It's funny. [Kix and I] caught ourselves being pigeonholed strictly for the sake of the public, [and an] emphasis is put on [us] being Brooks & Dunn the duo. Well, we're songwriters... that's where it gets really exciting to hear somebody do one of your songs that you wrote."
Brooks & Dunn Share What They Thought of Taylor Swift's "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" Cover
Nowadays, the pair want to highlight the country songwriters of the future. Their latest album Reboot II sees Kix and Ronnie collaborate with the likes of Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen, Megan Moroney, Jelly Roll, among others. Ultimately, Brooks & Dunn let the new generation take the lead on how they wanted to reimagine their original songs. "This time, we got in the studio and turned them loose," Ronnie tells PEOPLE.
"You pick your song, you take the approach, and we'll go with you wherever you want to go. No rules. We're not worried about radio rules or whatever. If they wanted to have a guitar player play for 16 or 32 bars, let's go."
