With a successful album behind him and a tour with George Strait under way, country music artist Dierks Bentley's career is rising like a freshly poured glass of beer.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published January 15, 2004
The way Dierks Bentley sees it, his self-titled debut album is a lot like easy-drinkin' Busch Light beer, the low-cost brew embraced by broke college students, the working class and struggling Nashville singers.
Bentley drank Busch Light for years as he worked to make it big in Nashville. And when he finally released his album last year, full of straight-ahead country, he thanked the beer in his liner notes.
"I always say my album goes down best with a cold, domestic light beer," Bentley says. "Not too fancy or over anyone's head."
The album has produced two hit singles, including What Was I Thinkin', which reached No. 1 last year, the first time in two years a debut country single had done so. Billboard magazine, in its year-end issue, named Bentley the top new country artist.
And now Bentley tops off his great year by opening for country legend George Strait on a 20-date tour that starts tonight in Atlanta. The second show on the tour is Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Kellie Coffey also opens for Strait.
"Some of the first music I listened to with my dad was country music, and George Strait was one of them," Bentley says. "It's better than having a No. 1 song, that's for sure. I'll be watching every show. When I get done singing, I'm going out to the crowd."
Calling this week from Nashville on his way to a rehearsal, the 29-year-old Bentley reflected on why his record has caught on. Perhaps it was appropriate Bentley attributed it to his love of pure country music.
After all, as he talked, he was driving a 1994 Chevy extended-cab pickup with his dog, Jake, next to him. (Yes, Jake is the dog featured in the album photos. Bentley adopted Jake from a pound about three years ago and goes nowhere without him).
A native of Phoenix, Bentley picked up a guitar at 13, switching his musical allegiance from rock to country. At 19, he left for Nashville, eventually working for the Nashville Network and writing songs. He also started absorbing the sounds of local bluegrass players, which he later incorporated into his album.
All but two of the songs on the album were written or co-written by Bentley. Album producer Brett Beavers also contributed to five of the songs.
Bentley said the album is straight-up country. The songs are crisp and filled with enough air and space for each instrument to stand out.
There's plenty of fun on the record, including a great drinking song called Bartenders etc., written by Bentley.
But none is a better romp than What Was I Thinkin', about a guy hanging out with a troublemaking girl who has a shotgun-toting father. The line about the young lady wearing a "little white tank top" has prompted female fans to don such shirts for Bentley's concerts.
"I never thought this would become "the tank top song,' but me and the band don't mind, and I don't think the guys in the crowd do either," Bentley says.
There also is a great deal of heartbreak on the album, much of it potent. Bentley's favorite track, Wish It Would Break, is a devastating love song about a man who wants his heart to break so he can forget his lost love. In Forget About You, Bentley sings of losing weight and hair while fretting over a woman.
Bentley said those songs are straight from the heart, written after he asked his girlfriend to marry him and she turned him down.
"I was falling apart, kind of, when I started writing this record," he says.
His ballad, My Last Name, also is a love song, though it's dedicated to his family. Bentley's unique first name also is a last name - of his mother's grandmother. He said a lot of people ask him if it's a stage name.
"If I had picked a stage name, it sure as hell wouldn't have been Dierks," he says.
As much as Bentley likes writing songs, he loves playing in front of crowds the best. He adores hearing fans sing his songs back to him. He plans to have plenty of fun on his tour with Strait.
And no doubt, a couple Busch Lights will help make that happen.
"It's the beer that ties everybody together," he says. "College students, rednecks, Nascar fans. I'm actually trying to get an endorsement."
