Brooks & Dunn certainly could have taken the easy, same old same old route in recording "Red Dirt Road," their latest album in a 13-year career. After all, superstars Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn had a lot of success last time out with "Steers & Stripes" after a bit of a down period .

But the veterans, who have been country's reigning duo from the get go, chose to take a different path musically and by looking back through many story songs. Instead of going for their typical high octane rockin' country and ballads, Brooks & Dunn mixed it up with honky tonk, Stones-styled country, blues, gos-pel and more for probably their most eclectic album ever.

And they also will mix it up touring-wise starting in February with a scaled down tour this year.

"I don't think we necessarily went into this with specific goals," says Kix Brooks, the one with the mustache and cowboy hat in an interview from his Nashville studio. "I think what happened was a natural course of events - 13 years down the road, this is like our sixth or seventh album (9th actually). We finally get to the point where (on) the first record, we had way more success. We never dreamed we'd have success out of the box that sold 8 million records or whatever it was. The next two or three records, we tried to recreate ourselves a little bit. We didn't want to lose this miracle we had. We may have been guilty of stepping on our own feet a little bit ."

"After that, it becomes okay. We don't want to lose our fans, but we don't want to write 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' any more. I think where we are getting to a point now where we are comfortable writing what we want to, playing what we want to. I think we're secure that our fans will (not abandon us) if we get off the trail a little bit. It's the (same) refreshing attitude when we made that first CD ."

Referring to the period preceding their 1991 debut, Brooks says, "Ronnie and I didn't know each other very well. We just wrote songs and made music that was true to us, and it really worked. I think now we're a little more confident to stretch back to our roots ."

For Brooks, 48, and Dunn, 50, that means Louisiana and Texas respectively with folks like Waylon and Willie and Jerry Jeff Walker, Leon Russell and the Rolling Stones. The Stones influence is evident practically from the opening strains of "Red Dirt Road's" lead-off song "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl," the second single from the disc. The Keith Richards steely guitar sound on the Bob DiPiero/Bart Allmand song is in ample supply to give the song about a worldly big city girl coming home for a wedding a lively, rocking sound .

"We're finally just getting to the stuff that was a big influence on us," says Brooks, adding, "Songwriting-wise, we dug a little deeper in the well ."

Heck, the reflective first single, "Red Dirt Road," made it to the top of the charts .

That made two albums in a row where the lead-off track was a big hit. Last time around, it was "Only in America," which got grouped in with post-9/11 themed songs .

"9/11 and those things were six, eight months down the road," says Brooks, referring to the themes of the new album. "I think we were by the point of hugging cops on street corners, but we were all appreciating mortality, family, things that matter in life. I think the things we were writing were reflective ."

So with the tragedy of 9/11 more confronted on "Steers & Stripes," "we're at the point of our career and in life to look back on the things that got us there, the things are meaningful to you. Why (now) is a good question. I'm not sure what it is in your career and life. Sometimes going back is the thing that takes you forward ."

Brooks figures that about a week before starting recording, the duo had picked 4 or 5 of the 15 songs for the album. "Then when it gets right there close to game time, that's when we start popping them, just trying to get something on there ."

"Red Dirt Road" came into being about halfway through the recording process. "We had already gotten a few things together," Brooks says. "It was starting to take on a vibe of sort of where we came from - that reflection attitude ."

The duo was about to head off on a west coast concert swing when the song developed. Dunn started the song, writing it on a cocktail napkin, before handing it to Brooks .

"He said, 'see what you can do to this,'" Brooks recalls." With Dunn handing Brooks the chorus, Brooks came up with the verses "between the airport and Sacramento ."

"We had done a Lennon/McCartney on that one," says Brooks .

The song, written by Brooks and Dunn together, is a story song about growing up in a rural area. Dunn sings of the times "we walked to church on Sunday morning/race barefoot back to the Johnson's fence/that's where I first saw Mary/On that roadside pickin' blackberries/that summer I turned a corner in my soul/Down that red dirt road ."

He continues singing about drinking his first beer, finding Jesus, wrecking his first car and gets philosophical about the meaning of life: "I learned the path to heaven is full of sinners and believers/Learned that happiness on earth ain't just for high achievers/I've learned I've come to know There's life at both ends/Of that red dirt road" Writing with Gary Nicholson, Brooks came up with a somewhat similarly themed song, "When We Were Kings ."

The mid-tempo song's central figure, Tommy, gets off his job from Texaco to hang with beer and girls. He ends up with "prettiest girl I'd ever seen," before getting drafted for the Vietnam War ."

"I'll teach 'em a lesson they'll never forget"/Angel and I went to wave goodbye/I guess we'd always thought we'd see him again/You know I took her out a couple of times/We always just wound up talkin' 'bout him" "That's pretty much me," says Brooks of his life growing up in Shreveport, La. "We would out to Wallace Lake Dam outside of Shreveport. There were always a bunch of pickup trucks with tailgates down and bonfires and everything else in the 70s. The partying was going on all the time ."

As for the idea of feeling important, Brooks says, "That's just that place in your life whether it was a club or somebody's house, and you could walk in the house and you (were greeted) "hey so and so, and you feel like a king. Everyone seems to have that version of where that was ."

Brooks says the idea of looking back to a younger, perhaps glorified time in one's life is the norm .

"I think all of us like to think of ourselves that way. We might not necessarily live that lifestyle any more. It's a romantic time in our life, and I think most people have a period like that. Even though you may have moved beyond it, hopefully you still have that wind in your sails. I don't think I'll ever grow up. I sure to hell hope not ."

"I saw the Stones last year for the I-don't-know how many times," says Brooks. "When you get a close up of Mick's or Keith's face, they're weathered. It doesn't strike me at all out of place with what they're doing. It seems totally okay that he's (Mick's) acting like a teenager ."

Brooks says he was surrounded by music growing up in Shreveport. "When I was real young, like six, I had a ukulele. I learned songs. I got a guitar. By the time I was 12, we had a band in the 6th grade. I was playing for garages and little parties and swim clubs ."

The latter wasn't always too safe, however, especially if playing electric. "I can remember the hell got shocked out of me, barefoot and bathing suit and sparks climbing three inches (from) your lips ."

Interestingly enough, Brooks grew up about six houses away from country star Johnny Horton, who had such hits as ""The Battle of New Orleans" and "North to Alaska." Brooks was 5 when Horton died in 1960 in a car crash. Brooks did not know Horton, but he knew his songs and remembers driving with his father past Horton's house after he died .

"There was a wreath on the door," recalls Brooks. "We stopped. He just looked. He was a big fan, and I was too. I didn't realize he was killed ."

Horton's widow, Billie Jean, previously had been married to Hank Williams. Brooks knew Billie Jean and Johnny's daughter, Nina Horton, who was about his same age .

Billie Jean Horton "invited our band over to play in their garage," Brooks says. "They would have dances and parties over there ."

Brooks says he received a good music education when he was sent away to military school in Sewanee, Tenn. Brooks later worked the club circuit in Louisiana before working in Alaska and Maine, where he sang at ski lodges. In 1979, he moved to Nashville. He didn't have much success as a singer, but he penned hits for John Conlee with "I'm Only In It for the Love" in 1983 and "Modern Day Romance" for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1985. Capitol Nashville signed Brooks and released an album in 1989. But a single, "Sacred Ground," (later a hit for McBride & The Ride) only made it to 87 on the Billboard charts .

Dunn, meanwhile, was born in Coleman, Texas. His parents were into music with the sounds of Marty Robbins and Jerry Lee Lewis wafting through the house .

Dunn went to Abilene Christian College with thoughts of getting involved in religion, but left that for country music. He moved to Tulsa, Okla. where Shelter Records, home of Leon Russell, was bassed and learned some licks there. He led a house band at a nightclub where he recorded a few singles, which charted .

Dunn's break came when he won a Marlboro country talent contest, leading to recording sessions with Scott Hendricks, who later won accord as a producer and Capitol Nashville head. Dunn also toured as part of the Marlboro Country Music Tour .

Hendricks told Arista Records head Tim DuBois about Dunn. DuBois eventually did lunch with Brooks and Dunn, suggesting they join forces .

That was on a Monday. On Wednesday, they met to write for the first time with "Brand New Man" the result. On Thursday, they wrote "My Next Broken Heart ."

"Within a couple of weeks, we had about four songs," says Brooks. That was writing together, but Dunn already had penned "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and "Neon Moon," while Brooks had "Lost Found ."

"They say you got your whole life to write the first song," says Brooks .

Despite the flurry of songs they wrote together, Dunn was not used to writing with people, according to Brooks. "Just sitting down and throwing ideas back and forth, I could tell he was not really comfortable with that process," says Brooks. "He just hadn't done it. And I had done it every day ."

DuBois liked what he heard and inked Brooks & Dunn .

"Brand New Man" was released Aug. 31, 1991 with their first 4 singles hitting the top - the title track, "My Next Broken Heart," "Neon Moon" and the 1992 hit that sent their career sky high, "Boot Scootin' Boogie," during the line dance craze .

The albums and hits kept right on coming including "Little Miss Honky Tonk," "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone," a remake of "My Maria," "How Long Gone" and a duet with Reba McEntire, "If You See Him/If You See Her ."

But they later hit a rough spot with the release of "Tightrope" in 1999. The lead single was a remake of John Waite's pop hit, "Missing You." It only reached 15 on the country charts. Only one - "You'll Always Be Loved by Me" - of four singles did well .

No doubt about it - Brooks & Dunn were worried. "Yeah sure," says Brooks. "'Missin' You' was a mistake, and Ronnie will admit that. I encouraged him to sing the song because he wanted to. He always loved that song. Finally, he said, 'I just want to do this,' and I said, 'do it. Sing it.' People at the label, producers encouraged us to put the song out, but it didn't work. It was one of those bumps in the road, one of those hiccups that was overcome ."

"It was a simple case of a song that you really liked and sang, but it didn't necessarily fit a Brooks & Dunn thing," Brooks says .

Another factor was Arista folded into RCA, meaning that the "record just got kind of swept under the rug...It was a kind of a funky time ."

But the ship got righted with 2001's "Steers & Stripes." "It was very gratifying that it came together. Everybody went into the project with so much enthusiasm. We really felt like we made some good work. If it didn't work, we would have been real disappointed ."

"Believe me, we were crossing our fingers," he says. "We weren't feeling sure of ourselves ."

Now with a second straight hit album and the lively Neon Circus & Wild West Show tours under their belts, Brooks & Dunn will go on a scaled down tour starting Feb. 12 in Reading, Pa. until late April and then again this fall, hitting smaller venues instead of sheds .

"The biggest thing is there are a lot of great markets that we get tons of fan mail and emails (saying) 'hey don't forget about us'. You realize when you're doing these big amphitheatre shows with five Brooks & Dunn show with the support acts...and get back and get back into some middle level buildings ."

Next time out, Brooks & Dunn might follow through on Brooks' threat to do a honky tonk album .

"We've been actually toying with real traditional ideas. Gary Stewart's passing has sort of inspired us. This should be an inspiring go round ."

"I don't want to commit to that because sure as I say that, we'll make something that isn't stone country traditional. I will say this - (we are) definitely starting to dig around in that trench. Definitely we do love it. Both of us have an affinity for barroom music ."

For now, of course, the focus is on "Red Dirt Road." "And people don't seem too upset about it," says Brooks, "Which is good ."

Photograph by Pamela Springstreen