"Play Something Country" is a song recorded 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, o ...

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 ...

, co-written by

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 deb ...

and Terry McBride. It was released in June 2005, as the first single from the duo's album '' Hillbilly Deluxe''. In September of that year, the song reached the top of 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 advertis ...

'' Hot Country Songs charts, becoming the twentieth and final Number One hit of the duo's career.

Background and writing

The idea came to Dunn after a show in Minnesota. According to McBride, who played

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and sc ...

in Brooks & Dunn's road band, Dunn "comes busting onto the bus and says, 'how about this idea?' and he howls that ''ah oooh, aw, play something country!''" Inspired by

Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine) ...

, with whom they had been touring, McBride and Dunn decided to base the song's central character on Wilson's image, creating a "ballsy chick that bursts into the barroom, puts her hand on her hip ��and goes, 'play something country!'" After McBride told Wilson that she was the inspiration for "Play Something Country," Wilson replied that she loved the song.

Content

"Play Something Country" is an up-tempo song backed by

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic g ...

and a

horn section A horn section is a group of musicians playing horns. In an orchestra or concert band, it refers to the musicians who play the "French" horn, and in a British-style brass band it is the tenor horn players. In many popular music genres, the te ...

. Its lyrics are the narrator's description of a female character who wants to hear country music.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon and premiered in mid-2005. It shows the duo performing the song in a bar with a full band, and Ronnie Dunn as a bar patron singing the song. It also shows a sassy country chick dancing and interacting with the bar patrons. At one point, she is seen using a lasso to grab one bar patron (played by NY actor Rob Findlay), then riding on his back as if he was a horse. Another scene shows her standing before the DJ and grabbing his record off his turntable, forcing him to "Play something country."

Chart positions

"Play Something Country" debuted at number 37 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of June 4, 2005. On the chart dated September 17, 2005, it became the twentieth and most recent Number One single of Brooks & Dunn's career.

Year-end charts

References

Songs about country music 2005 singles Brooks & Dunn songs Songs written by Ronnie Dunn Songs written by Terry McBride (musician) Music videos directed by Michael Salomon Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Arista Nashville singles 2005 songs {{2000s-country-song-stub