''Cowboy Town'' is the tenth studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

duo

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...

, released in 2007 by

Arista Nashville Arista Nashville is an American record label that serves as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specializes in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks & ...

. Produced by the duo and Tony Brown, the album has accounted for four Top 20 country singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country singles charts: "Proud of the House We Built," "God Must Be Busy," "Put a Girl in It," and "Cowgirls Don't Cry." The album debuted at number 13 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 68,900 copies in the first week of release. To date it has sold over 400,000 copies.

Content

As with all of Brooks & Dunn's albums since the late 1990s, this album features songs co-written by Terry McBride, former lead singer of McBride & The Ride. Texas country singer

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was best ...

is featured on "The Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker". One of the McBride co-writes, "Proud of the House We Built," was issued in late 2007 as the lead-off single, and reached a peak of number 4 on the ''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts. "God Must Be Busy" and "Put a Girl in It" were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively. "God Must Be Busy" peaked at number 11, while "Put a Girl in It" reached number 3. "Cowgirls Don't Cry," another McBride co-write, was released as the fourth and final single. After the duo performed the song with

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

(who was also the song's inspiration) at the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

awards in November 2008, a re-recording with McEntire's vocals was shipped to radio, and from November 2008 onward, the song was credited to Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire. It was the highest-peaking single from ''Cowboy Town'', reaching a peak of number 2.

Track listing

Personnel

;Brooks & Dunn *

Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Co ...

— lead vocals, background vocals *

Ronnie Dunn Ronald Gene Dunn (born June 1, 1953) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record executive. Starting in 2011, Dunn has worked as a solo artist following the temporary dissolution of Brooks & Dunn. He released his self-titled debu ...

— lead vocals, background vocals ;Additional Musicians * Robert Bailey — background vocals *

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

— drums * Larry Beaird — acoustic guitar *

Mike Brignardello Giant is an American melodic rock band that was formed in 1987. The band originally consisted of founding members Dann Huff (lead vocals and guitar) and Alan Pasqua (keyboard), and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello on ...

— bass guitar *

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac is an American session musician and producer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in nearby Willowick, Ohio. He has been a Nashville-based musician since 1992. He previously owned 2nd Gear, a used music consignment shop in Sou ...

— acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Mark Casstevens — acoustic guitar *

J.T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 ...

— electric guitar *

Chad Cromwell Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004. Cromwell has worked with m ...

— drums *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

— percussion *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying B ...

—

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

* Haley Dunn — background vocals * Kim Fleming — background vocals * Paul Franklin — steel guitar, lap steel guitar *

Kenny Greenberg Kenneth S. "Kenny" Greenberg is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and session musician. He is known for bringing a rock-and-roll sensibility to Nashville recording sessions. Biography Greenberg was born in Cleveland, Ohio but attend ...

— acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Rob Hajacos — fiddle *

Owen Hale Owen Hale (Born July 15, 1948) is an American musician best known for playing drums with Lynyrd Skynyrd, on their album ''Twenty'' and the Lyve from Steel Town DVD concert. Hale left the group in 1998. He was also a busy studio drummer in Nashv ...

— drums * Vicki Hampton — background vocals * Tony Harrell — keyboards,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, piano *

Aubrey Haynie Aubrey Haynie (born March 27, 1974) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle and mandolin. In his career, he has recorded three studio albums for the Sugar Hill Records label, all three of which contained mostly songs that he wr ...

— fiddle * Wes Hightower — background vocals *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

— piano * Jeff Kersey — background vocals * Terry McBride — bass guitar, background vocals *

— vocals on "Cowgirls Don't Cry" *

Chris McHugh Chris McHugh (born 1964) is an American musician. He began his career as the drummer of Christian rock band White Heart from 1986 to 1989. He also worked in the recording of several of their later albums. Chris McHugh is on the Nashville "A" li ...

— drums * Jerry McPherson — electric guitar *

Brent Mason Brent Mason (born July 13, 1959) is an American, Nashville, Tennessee-based recording studio guitarist and songwriter, performing primarily country music. Guitar World Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Session Guitarists of All Time". ...

— electric guitar * James Mitchell — electric guitar *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

— drums, percussion * Gary Morse — steel guitar, lap steel guitar *

Wendy Moten Wendy Moten (born November 22, 1964) is an American jazz singer from Tennessee. Born in Memphis and based in Nashville, Moten has had a successful career in music, including several major-label solo records, some international hit songs, and a ...

— background vocals * Jimmy Nichols —

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

, keyboards, Hammond organ, piano * Russ Pahl — steel guitar, lap steel guitar * Kim Parent — background vocals * Larry Paxton — bass guitar * Pat Peterson — background vocals * Alison Prestwood — bass guitar * Michael Rhodes — bass guitar *

John Wesley Ryles John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American country music artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline ar ...

— background vocals * Rex Schnelle — electric guitar, percussion * Paul Scholton — drums * Hank Singer — fiddle *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the p ...

— bass guitar *

Harry Stinson Harry Stinson (born June 3, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian real estate developer from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is president of Stinson Properties, Inc. He has been called Toronto's "condo king". Biography Stinson's most significant ...

— background vocals *

Bryan Sutton Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs. Biography Early career Sutton's grandfather and ...

— acoustic guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Crystal Taliefero Crystal Taliefero-Pratt (née Taliefero) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew up with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was ...

— background vocals * Russell Terrell — background vocals * Lou Toomey — electric guitar *

Ilya Toshinsky Bering Strait was a Russian country music band, whose style was sometimes called "redgrass". In 2003, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award and appeared on the TV show ''60 Minutes''. The group disbanded in 2006. The lineup on their first alb ...

—

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, acoustic guitar *

— vocals on "The Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker" * John Willis — banjo *

Glenn Worf Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler. Early life and education Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...

— bass guitar *

Reese Wynans Reese Wynans (born November 28, 1947) is an American keyboard player, who has done session work and has been a member of Double Trouble and progressive rock band Captain Beyond. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a ...

— Hammond organ, piano

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Brooks & Dunn albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Tony Brown (record producer)