Country crooners Brooks & Dunn are weighing in on the “Taylor Swift effect.”
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who make up the musical duo that’s been turning out country hits since 1991, recently spoke in an interview about the country music genre over the years, and particularly how Swift, 34, impacted the industry.
While speaking to American Songwriter in an interview published on Thursday, Nov. 7, Brooks and Dunn were asked about Swift’s contribution to the genre, which they agreed has been “for the better.”
“She came in as a country artist and that thread is still very much there,” Dunn, 71, said about the “Anti-Hero” songstress, whose early albums, including her debut self-titled album and 2008’s Fearless fell into the country music category.
Brooks and Dunn—with over 50 country music awards to their name, including 2 Grammys and 30 ACM awards—went on to compliment Swift’s songwriting ability, arguing that her skills are on par with some of the best in the business.
“She’s a really good songwriter,” Brooks, 69, told the publication. “Regardless if you’re not a pop fan of hers, which there’s not many young girls who are not.”
“When she was here as a bona fide country artist, she wrote all those songs herself,” he continued, noting, “I don’t know anybody who wouldn’t say that she’s a really good songwriter because she is.”
Swift has since deviated away from the country music genre after first breaking away with her full-on pop record, 1989, which went on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys in 2016. She has since dabbled in a number of other genres, including indie folk and alternative—which fans seem to love all the same.
“And, you know, all the rest of it, the antics she has, the stadiums, and the whole Taylor Swift world, it’s like Barbie big,” he continued. “That’s a whole different world of its own.”
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