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    Texas Heritage Songwriters

    Ronnie Dunn on Texas sensibility, swagger and the Lone Star songwriting tradition

    Arden Ward
    Feb 9, 2013 | 3:00 pm

    Ronnie Dunn may be best known for “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Maria,” and a 20-year Nashville career as the latter half of the most successful duo in music history. But Dunn is more than a commercial country crooner creating Grammy-nominated tunes from the center of Tennessee. Dunn is a Texan.

    “I really look at the world, I feel like, through Texas eyes,” he says. “Now, if I’m pinned down and asked to have to define that, I’m not sure I can.”

    This March, Ronnie Dunn returns to the heart of Texas as a 2013 inductee of the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Dunn will be inducted alongside West Texan Sonny Curtis and the late Roger Miller, completing a trifecta that represents the very wide, often romanticized, Texas music landscape.

    “I really got serious about what we call country music when I heard Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger record back in college in Abilene,” Dunn says.

    During an interview, Dunn discusses Texas sensibility, songwriting heritage, and how he has maintained those roots during his decades-long Nashville career.

    Though it’s not something he can necessarily “pin down” into one line of his next hit song, Dunn’s Texas connection is nothing short of genuine.

    It takes only a moment on the phone to peel back layers of Tennessee and expose Dunn’s true Texas identity. He is quick to state that he is “exceedingly proud of the Texas music scene and the history” and just as quick to quip about some of the scene’s most firmly planted roots. “We need to do work up in the Panhandle a little bit,” he says with a light laugh.

    “There’s a certain nonsense and character and swagger that Texas has that no one else does,” Dunn says, characterizing his own subtle humor and heartfelt discourse.

    “There’s a certain [Texas] sensibility,” he continues. “I was just going off on my guys in my band. I said, guys, you know when I sing ‘I’m a singer in a cowboy band,’ that doesn’t mean I’m a rodeo cowboy or I get up and get on my horse every day, but there’s a certain sensibility to that that’s innate in me and what I do and how I see things and how I express myself in music.”

    His song “Singer In A Cowboy Band,” tells the story of Dunn’s own lesser-known music journey, which began in “Texas beer joints,” and saw “every dive and joint in Oklahoma” before he landed in Nashville and built the 20-year legacy of Brooks & Dunn.

    The tune, released on his 2011 self-titled solo album, is what Dunn calls “a 101” and a “road map” for his decorated career. It’s a career that is as unapologetically country — and Texan — as the singer himself, spurred on by none other than the Red Headed Stranger.

    “There’s a certain nonsense and character and swagger that Texas has that no one else does,” Dunn says.

    “I really got turned on and got serious about what we call country music when I heard Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger record back in college in Abilene,” he says. “And Jerry Jeff and those guys. And I know I’m digging back ... but that’s where it all came from with me.”

    “I used to could tell you every guy in the Lost Gonzo Band and all that,” he says, “and around the Armadillo [World Headquarters] and all that movement in Austin, that was just as exciting as anything I remember happening on the music scene and front for me.”

    Though Dunn’s career took him to Nashville in the ’80s, he is quick to remind that he hasn’t lost sight of the Texas music scene during his commercial country career. “I’ve been on the bus for 20 years, rolling through Texas most of that time.”

    In fact, Dunn is still in tune with the Texas songwriting tradition, its mainstays and contemporary icons, like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Hayes Carll. “I just started doing some stuff with Ray Wylie Hubbard, writing for this last record,” he says. “Some of the guys turned me on to ‘Snake Farm’ and some other stuff that he had done. I love that.”

    Dunn also says he’s just written a song that could be inspired as much by Willie Nelson and Ray Wylie Hubbard as by his own Texas identity.

    “It’s called ‘They Still Play Country Music in Texas,” he says. “It just takes a stab at some of the stuff that’s going on today, and some of the stuff that’s inherently Texan at the same time. But you know, Texas is progressive at the same time as well.”

    Sounds like ahead of his induction into the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, Dunn has written the next great Texas outlaw anthem.

    But what does being honored alongside Curtis and Miller mean to the Nashville-based artist? He answers with all the character and Texas swagger you’d expect.

    “It means there’s something really good in the water down there for music, especially country music.”

    ---

    The Texas Heritage Songwriters' Hall of Fame Awards Show is March 3, 2013 at ACL Live.

    There’s a certain nonsense and character and swagger that Texas has that no one else does,” Dunn says.

     
    unspecified
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    Weekend Event Planner

    These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this Easter weekend

    Alex Bentley
    Apr 17, 2025 | 6:00 am
    National tour of Mamma Mia!
    Photo by Joan Marcus
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    Dallas typically only gets one Broadway tour at a time, but with two premier venues in the city, this Easter weekend will feature a rare double dip. Other choices include three local theater productions, a symphony concert, a stand-up comedy event, a concert celebrating an iconic venue, a beatboxing/popping performance, and a concert featuring the music from a popular anime.

    Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events, as well as a list of places serving Easter brunch.

    Thursday, April 17

    Soul Rep Theatre Company presents Pretty Fire
    Pretty Fire is a one-woman show that explores beautiful, funny, dark, and exhilarating vignettes tracing the life of playwright Charlayne Woodard from a premature birth to a joyous maturity at 11 years old. It is a powerful exploration of three generations of family love, struggle, and triumph. The production will have three performances through Saturday at Latino Cultural Center.

    Plague Mask Players presents Alice
    Alice by Ara Vito is a movement and storytelling-focused adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, told through the lens of a female playwright and ensemble cast of all female and non-binary performers. The Texas premiere of the new work, which is part of AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project, runs through April 27 in Wyly Theatre's Studio Theatre.

    Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents "Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony"
    Inspired by seeing the ruins and moors of Scotland, and especially Mary Queen of Scots’s Holyrood Castle on a walking tour, Mendelssohn created his aptly named Third Symphony. Also, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's principal winds will gather for the world premiere of a concerto commissioned for them from one of the most sought-after American composers, Sean Shepherd. The concert, conducted by Fabio Luisi, will have three performances through Saturday at Meyerson Symphony Center.

    Broadway Dallas presents Mamma Mia!
    Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago. The production runs through April 27 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

    Broadway at the Center presents Mean Girls
    Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. The production will have four performances through Saturday at Winspear Opera House.

    Friday, April 18

    Killers of Kill Tony
    Killers of Kill Tony is a standup comedy lineup featuring regulars and fan-favorites from the podcast Kill Tony. Building upon the success and energy of the original podcast, Killers of Kill Tony showcases the diverse talent pool of comedians and their wit, humor, and unique comedic styles. Performers will include Kam Patterson, Ari Matti, David Lucas, and Martin Phillips. There will be two performances at Majestic Theatre.

    Saturday, April 19

    Dallas Children's Theater presents James and the Giant Peach
    Based on the novel by Roald Dahl, young James Henry Trotter's resilience is tested when he is sent off to live with his mean aunts, Spiker and Sponge, after a chain of unfortunate incidents. Life is no fun there until he accidentally spills some tiny green things on a tree, and … voilà, a giant peach. When James and his new oversized friends - Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, Earthworm, and Spider - snip the stem of the peach, the quest for happiness and great adventure lands them in New York City and at the center of attention. The production runs through May 24 at Dallas Children's Theater.

    Longhorn Jubilee featuring St. Paul & the Broken Bones
    To celebrate Longhorn Ballroom’s 75th anniversary, the venue is hosting a series of events to honor the iconic room's past, present, and future. Dubbed the Longhorn Jubilee, the all-genre-encompassing event will unfold both inside the Ballroom and outside in the Courtyard combining music with food trucks, local vendors, and more. This event will feature performances by Saint Paul & The Broken Bones, Abraham Alexander, The Suffers, and more.

    Eisemann Center presents Beatbox Meets Popping featuring Amirah Sackett & Mr MiC
    An internationally recognized hip-hop dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Amirah Sackett explores and embodies her Muslim American identity through combining hip-hop movement and Islamic themes. She is widely known for her creation of the choreography and performance group known as We’re Muslim, Don’t Panic. The performance takes place at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson.

    Sunday, April 20

    Attack on Titan: Beyond the Walls World Tour
    Attack on Titan: Beyond the Walls World Tour is a celebration of music and anime, a concert experience that features a fusion of rock and orchestral music, vocal performances, and visuals that transports the audience straight into the heart of the universe of the anime series Attack on Titan. The concert will be performed by rock musicians joined by a symphonic orchestra, accompanied by synchronized scenes from the anime series. It takes place at Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

    National tour of Mamma Mia!
      
    Photo by Joan Marcus

    Broadway Dallas presents Mamma Mia! at the Music Hall at Fair Park through April 27.

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