Ronnie Dunn and Ira Dean came on The Bobby Bones Show to talk about their new song “Tele-Man,” recall memories living on Johnny Cash’s property, how Dean got fired from being Tanya Tucker’s bass player and more.
Dunn and Dean first met through their mutual connection with Johnny Cash. Dunn lived on his property for a few years, and Dean became friends with Cash’s son after meeting him at a bar he owned called the Belcolve Club. Dean was playing in a band there for $30 a night but was struggling to make it so he was getting ready to move back to North Carolina. When he went to Cash’s house for lunch, they called him a “stray dog they fed that wouldn’t leave,” because he stayed on their property while trying to make ends meet. He became so apart of their family and would spend holidays with them in Jamaica, they finally gave him the duplex that is behind the House of Cash Museum which sat on 16 acres. Dunn also lived on the property and was told him rent was $600 a month, but every time he would try to pay, they would never accept it. Dean recalled Cash as someone who didn’t talk a lot, but when he did, you listened because it was always so inspiring. He also shared how he missed his sense of humor. Both Dunn and Dean thought the movie, Walk The Line, was a pretty accurate to Cash was.
After many years of knowing each other, Dunn and Dean are finally working together on their new song “Tele-Man” that also includes Vince Gill, John Osborn and Brent Mason. Dean came up with the idea to get so many people involved on the song after he watched a documentary about The Traveling Wilburys and realized no one had ever really done that in country music, so he had a dream to bring that to life with this group of people. Dean shared his goal with the song is to remind people that he is not dead. It’s part of a new album he is working on that will feature a bunch of different artists that he’s always respected and wanted to work with.
Dean moved to Nashville in 1990 and played bass for Tanya Tucker for a few years. He got fired from doing that three times in three years because he was a “trainwreck.” He recalled how he was in his early 20s, and it was his first real gig and did stupid things like stealing her limo. He knew all the bars were closed and that her limo was fully stocked, so he went up to the driver and told him that Tucker gave him permission to take it for the night. From there, he picked up a bunch of friends and partied all night and then missed his flight in the morning. The band leader fired him, but Tucker hired him back because she thought it was great and gave him a raise. After he got fired, Keith Burns reached out to him, and they created Trick Pony because there were no trios at the time, and it took them about three years to finally get success.
Dean shared stories of working with Darius Rucker and said that he is the biggest Frank Sinatra fan, and one time they went to a bar where he played nothing but Sinatra songs on a piano for two hours. He also shared a story of a time when he got a call from Willie Nelson’s people saying that he was waiting in the driveway because he was scheduled to record with Trick Pony. He had no notice, so he speed over there and got a speeding ticket on the way. They got on his bus and smoked and on the way home, he couldn’t drive fast because he was so high and got pulled over.
“Tele-Man” is out now!