VH1’s famed Storytellers franchise has been revived at CMT under the title CMT Storytellers.
Country Music Hall of Fame members Brooks & Dunn will launch the series’ initial installment, with CMT Storytellers: Brooks & Dunn airing April 13 at 7 p.m. CT. CMT is aiming for quarterly episodes, though they are still determining frequency. Future episodes will be available on Paramount+.
Similar to its predecessor, CMT Storytellers features artists performing for a small, intimate audience, telling stories about their songs and careers. CMT is open to featuring artists outside of the country genre.
The Storytellers franchise originally aired on VH1 from 1996-2015, and featured rock and pop luminaries including Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Alanis Morissette and David Bowie, as well as country music giants Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and the (then-Dixie) Chicks. VH1 and CMT are both owned by Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS).
“It’s an honor to be given the reins to reviving one of the most iconic music series of our generation as we bring the Storytellers franchise to CMT for the first time, following an unprecedented 97-episode run on our sister network VH1. A legendary series requires an equally epic kickoff and we’re proud to have Brooks & Dunn, two of our genre’s greatest storytellers, helping mark its momentous return,” said Margaret Comeaux, executive producer and CMT’s senior vp of production in a statement.
While most country music fans are familiar with Brooks & Dunn’s electrifying showmanship on tours such as their Neon Circus Tour, their string of 14 CMA vocal duo of the year wins (as well as an entertainer of the year win) and 20 No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, CMT Storytellers: Brooks & Dunn puts a spotlight squarely on the duo’s songwriting talents.
“We wrote all these songs, and we are songwriters and storytellers at heart,” Brooks told Billboard just prior to the taping of CMT Storytellers.
Dunn, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018, is the sole writer on several of the duo’s hits, such as “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind,” “Hard Workin’ Man” and “Neon Moon.”
Dunn recalled writing “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” during the height of the Urban Cowboy movement, when thousands of people would show up to line dance at clubs Dunn was performing in.
“It wasn’t written as a line dance,” Dunn told Billboard. “But I started playing that song and it was the first time I wrote a song that people started asking me to play again. That was a first and I took that as a good sign.”
Meanwhile, Brooks co-wrote “Lost and Found” with Don Cook, while Brooks, Dunn and Cook co-wrote the duo’s 1991 breakthrough hit “Brand New Man,” as well as several chart-toppers including “My Next Broken Heart” and “That Ain’t No Way to Go.”
Brooks and Dunn were each pursuing solo careers prior to being paired up and signed by then-Arista Nashville head Tim DuBois who thought they’d do better as duo, though both had experienced hits as writers already. Brooks was a co-writer on songs including John Conlee’s 1983 hit “I’m Only in It For The Love,” Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1985 hit “Modern Day Romance,” and the Oak Ridge Boys’ 1986 release “You Made a Rock of a Rolling Stone.” Meanwhile, Asleep at the Wheel recorded “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” for their 1990 album Keepin’ Me Up Nights, before Brooks & Dunn turned it into a smash hit. Dunn is also a writer on Shenandoah’s 1995-released, Grammy-nominated hit “Darned If I Don’t (Danged If I Do)” and Reba McEntire’s “I Keep on Loving You.”
Brooks & Dunn told Billboard that fans can expect that same spontaneous performance style their concerts are known for during CMT Storytellers: Brooks & Dunn.
“We’ve never been ones to really plan or rehearse things and we’re not starting today,” Brooks said.
That spontaneousness played out when the duo, backed by their full band, taped their episode just south of Nashville. Brooks told the audience how he got the idea for “Lost and Found” while riding a lawnmower, Dunn had fun testing the vocal endurance of the audience during “Neon Moon,” and the duo added an extra song to the setlist at the behest of the crowd.
Prior to the taping, Brooks recalled his own favorite VH1 Storytellers episode, a 1998 session featuring John Mellencamp. “Mellencamp was a good one,” he told Billboard. “He knows how to entertain and how to tell a great story.”
CMT Storytellers: Brooks & Dunn airs as part of CMT Music Awards Week, a slate of special programming from April 9-15, leading up to the Exclusive Director’s Cut of the 2022 CMT Music Awards.
Dunn was characteristically blunt about one of the reasons they were attracted to the series.
“We have a tour to promote,” he said.
On May 5, Brooks & Dunn will return to arena shows for the first time in a decade when they launch their two-month Reboot 2022 Tour, welcoming openers including Gabby Barrett, Jon Pardi and Walker Hayes. However, the duo says fans shouldn’t come expecting the over-the-top production, jugglers, confetti cannons, and inflated steer skulls seen on some of their earlier tours. But what they will get is a lot of great music.
“We want to give fans the music they love,” Brooks said. “These shows bring back memories for fans who have been with us through the arena shows years ago, and introduces younger fans to our shows.”
The Reboot 2022 Tour takes its name from the duo’s 2019 collaborative album. Though they say they currently have no follow-up album in the works (Dunn is currently working on his fifth solo album, set to release this summer), Dunn doesn’t rule out the possibility of new music in the future.
“We’re not saying we won’t record together,” Dunn told Billboard. “It doesn’t have to be a full album. We could release a few songs.”
CMT Storytellers is just the latest in a slate of announcements from CMT, who previously announced that LeAnn Rimes’ 25-plus year career will be celebrated during
an upcoming episode of CMT Crossroads, featuring an all-female lineup of performers including Mickey Guyton, Ashley McBryde, Carly Pearce and Brandy Clark. Additionally, CMT’s Campfire Sessions will return with an episode featuring Little Big Town.
