Xbox LIVE Artist of the Month Program

More Dierks Bentley at Zune.net

Artist of the Month:

Dierks Bentley

Published May 8, 2008

Working his way up from the videotape copy room at the old Nashville Network, Dierks Bentley has parlayed his songwriting skills into ten top ten singles and three albums, all of which have reached or are about to reach the coveted platinum plateau. He releases his first greatest hits album in May 2008 (Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory), just five years into his major label career. He's brought twang, romance and wit to the charts, and with six Grammy nominations and a trove of CMA, ACM, and CMT awards, Dierks Bentley is looking forward to the kind of career his heroes had: a long one. 

Dierks Bentley.

In 2007, Bentley became the youngest active member of the Grand Ole Opry, and he took his wide-open country sound to the 90,000-person rock bazaar known as Bonnaroo. His Throttle Wide Open Tour, sponsored by Bud Light, will be revving its engines across the nation all year, and he's pulling together his first greatest hits release, with content, title and design chosen by the most important people in Bentley's life, his fans.

"2008 is all about the fans," Dierks said recently. "I can't think of a better way to get my fans involved than to have them actually act as executive producers of this record. I hope the end result will be the perfect album for the hard-core fan and also a really cool abridged version for the casual fan who wants to know more about what we've been up to the last five years."

The Music

Bentley's first major album featured the popular track "What Was I Thinkin'?" and earned him Music Row magazine's breakout artist of the year award. His next release, Modern Day Drifter, produced the top five single "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do" with its Waylon Jennings-inspired guitar signature and back-to-back number ones in "Come A Little Closer" and "Settle for a Slowdown." Then a third disc, Long Trip Alone, found insights in his life on the road and his even newer life of married bliss, a tension familiar to every major touring artist.

It's not just travel that motivates Bentley. He's a focused, serious artist who is his own band leader and his own toughest critic. "I put a lot of pressure on myself as far as upping the ante on every show," he says. "Every night's gotta be more meaningful than the night before, or there would be no other reason for being out here. And every record has to be a step up from the one before. We haven't reached the point I'm trying to reach as a singer/songwriter or lead singer yet … in a way, I hope we never do … it's more fun having something to work towards."

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