Early Life:
Born the son of Leon and Cathy Bentley on November 20, 1975 in Phoenix, Arizona, and given his Grandmother’s family name as his first name, Dierks Bentley inherited a love of music from his Father, taught himself to play the electric guitar when he was thirteen years old, graduated from the Lawrenceville Prep School in New Jersey, one of the oldest Prep Schools in the United States, and a National Historic Landmark, moved to Nashville when he was nineteen, was heavily influenced by Hank Williams Junior’s song “Man To Man,” obtained his first regular gig in town at Springwater, one of Nashville’s older musical venues, performed at the Market Street Brewery, where he had his first impromptu opportunity to play with Vince Gill in a set that lasted about an hour and a half, signed his first songwriting contract with the Sony/Tree Publishing Company, worked researching old footage of Country performances for The Nashville Network, attended the University of Vermont and Vanderbilt University, where he studied English because that was the closest subject he could find to songwriting, although he did not graduate from either one of them, and began pursuing his musical career after being signed to Capitol Records in 2003.
Starting Out:
As a struggling Musician in late 1990s Nashville, and looking for a reason to continue pursuing his career, Bentley found new friends and inspiration in The Sidemen, the House Band of the Station Inn at the time, where he also played on open mic nights, who strongly encouraged his lean toward Bluegrass, that he once considered “old folks music,” and credits them with providing him the foundation to restart building his career from. Bentley’s early Nashville years were also full of playing Classic Country Standards, obscure Covers, Bluegrass, with a favor for the dobro, and Original material in the honky-tonks on Second Avenue, Lower Broadway, and at the Bluebird Cafe.
Number Ones:
Currently the third youngest member of the Grand Ole Opry Bentley has placed seven Number One songs on the Country Music charts including “Sideways,” “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Feel That Fire,” “Come A Little Closer,” “Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go),” “Settle For A Slowdown,” and “Every Mile A Memory”. Other top Bentley songs have included “My Last Name,” “How Am I Doin’,” “Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do,” “Long Trip Alone,” “Trying To Stop Your Leaving,” “Sweet And Wild,” “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes,” and “Up On The Ridge”.
Dierks Bentley:
Featuring the Del McCoury Band on “Train Travelin’,” and released August 19, 2003 Dierks Bentley produced the Singer’s first Number One hit song “What Was I Thinkin’,” and the songs “Whiskey Tears,” “Distant Shore,” “Wish It Would Break,” and “Bartenders, Etc,” that were originally recorded on his 2001 Independent album Don’t Leave Me In Love, as well as a cover of “My Love Will Follow You”.
Modern Day Drifter:
By featuring the Del McCoury Band on “Good Man Like Me,” Bentley’s May 10, 2005 released Modern Day Drifter continued to show his Bluegrass trend, and produced two Number One hits, “Come A Little Closer” and “Settle For A Slowdown’. Other songs on the album included “Cab Of My Truck,” “Domestic, Light And Cold,” “Down On Easy Street,” and “So So Long”.
Long Trip Alone:
All the songs contained on Bentley’s Long Trip Alone album, released October 17, 2006, were co-written with his Producer Brett Beavers, and produced more Singles, to date, than any other Bentley album has, including “Every Mile A Memory,” “Long Trip Alone,” “Trying To Stop Your Leaving,” and “Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)”.
Greatest Hits/Every Mile A Memory 2003-2008:
Released May 6, 2008 Bentley’s Greatest Hits/Every Mile A Memory 2003-2008 album possesses ten songs from his first three recordings, the two new songs “Sweet And Wild,” with Sarah Buxton, and “With The Band,” and uniquely, the album also contains a title, cover art, and live versions of “Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go),” “Come A Little Closer,” and “Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do,” that were chosen by Bentley and his fans, three thousand of which were credited as Executive Producers for this recording.
Feel That Fire:
Released February 3, 2009 Feel That Fire contains a cover of Clay Walker’s “I Can’t Forget Her,” and the Warren Brothers co-written song “Feel That Fire”. The album achieved several Best Country Albums of 2009 listings, was named the Chicago Tribune’s Number One Best Country Album of the Year For 2009, received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for the Single “Beautiful World,” and featured Ronnie McCoury on the Bluegrass-toned “Last Call”.
Up On The Ridge:
The result of “something he had been waiting for the right time to record,” according to the Singer, and featuring collaborative efforts with The Del McCoury Band on the song “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” Jamey Johnson and Miranda Lambert on the song “Bad Angel,” and Kris Kristofferson on the song “Bottle To The Bottom,” the all acoustic Up On The Ridge, released June 8, 2010, became Bentley’s first Number One Bluegrass album. Other notable songs contained on the album include “Draw Me A Map,” “Rovin’ Gambler,” “Down In The Mine,” and “Up On The Ridge” that Bentley performed on the April 27, 2010 Tonight Show television program to premiere the album.
Wellknown Facts:
Always striving to become an even better Entertainer Bentley once sold his Nashville home because he spent so much time on the road, is an old-fashioned Performer who prides himself on gaining his fans one at a time, prefers down-home self promotion, and is a tireless Meet-and-Greeter.
Personal:
Bentley is married to Cassidy Black, who he met in school in the eigth grade, eloped to Mexico with, and married on December 17, 2005. The couple have a daughter named Evalyn Day Bentley, and are expecting their second child in December 2010. Bentley also has two wellknown dogs, Jake, who has co-starred in several videos with him, and George.
Awards:
Bentley won the CMT Music Award for the Breakthrough Video of the Year, the Academy of Country Music Top New Artist Award, the Country Music Association Horizon Award, and the CMT Music Performance of the Year Award, with Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, and George Strait, and narrated and appeared in the 2009 movie The Rise of Kahne, about NASCAR Driver Kasey Kahne.
Discography:
2001 – Don’t Leave Me In Love
2003 – Dierks Bentley
2005 – Modern Day Drifter
2006 – Long Trip Alone
2008 – Greatest Hits/Every Mile A Memory 2003-2008
2009 – Feel That Fire
2009 – iTunes: Live From Soho
2010 – Up On The Ridge
Singles:
2003 – What Was I Thinkin’
2003 – My Last Name
2004 – How Am I Doin’
2005 – Come A Little Closer
2005 – Domestic, Light and Cold
2005 – Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do
2006 – Long Trip Alone
2006 – Settle For A Slowdown
2006 – Every Mile A Memory
2007 – Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)
2008 – Feel That Fire
2008 – Sweet And Wild
2008 – Trying To Stop Your Leaving
2009 – I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes
2009 – Sideways
2010 – Up On The Ridge
2010 – Barbie Doll (with Jack Ingram)
2010 – Life On The Run
Videos:
2003 – My Last Name
2003 – What Was I Thinkin’
2004 – How Am I Doin’
2005 – Come A Little Closer
2005 – Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do
2006 – Long Trip Alone
2006 – Every Mile A Memory
2007 – Good Time
2007 – Free And Easy (Down The Road I Go)
2008 – Feel That Fire
2008 – Trying To Stop Your Leaving
2009 – Beautiful World (with Patty Griffin)
2009 – I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes
2010 – Up On the Ridge
Sources:
This Article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information about Dierks Bentley including:
dierks.com
cmt.com
billboard.com
gactv.com
cduniverse.com
