Strait’s Backstage Boot Scootin’
Back in April of 2010, the Academy of Country Music honored Brooks & Dunn with a Last Rodeo Tribute Concert. Country’s top stars were on hand to perform for Kix & Ronnie, including Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, and George Strait. They each sang a Brooks & Dunn classic, and George performed “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”
When Ronnie Dunn appeared on Country Countdown USA a few months ago, he told Lon Helton that he ran into George before the show: “We had to do a group picture backstage, he was right behind me, and I kept hearing him do, ‘Boogie,’ and he says, ‘I wonder if I should hit that high note like that.’ Just messin’ with me the whole time. So when he did it in the show, I just fell out. It shows he does have a sense of humor.” George responded to Ronnie’s story: “You know, I think I ended up doing it both ways during that song because that’s a hard note to hit. But we joke around when we’re around each other, because he’s a prankster.”
LISTEN: 11-42 Strait5
Also performing at the Brooks & Dunn Tribute last year was Rascal Flatts. The group’s Gary LeVox also ran into Strait before the show: “We were standing backstage with Strait, and he was going over the words to Boot Scootin’ Boogie. And I go over to George, and said, ‘Are you gonna wear that?’ And he looked over and said, ‘Like I ain’t got enough pressure on me! I was goin’ to, but maybe not now.'” We played that quote for George and he said, “That’s funny, Gary’s such a fashion-setter anyway! That whole show was about having fun, and we did. Plus it was in Vegas!”
LISTEN: 11-42 Strait7
Category: Audio