A biography for Dierks Bentleyhasn’t been written yet.
“I think about me and my dad taking a road trip from Phoenix to Nashville when I was 19. He's no longer here with me, but I still drive that same 1994 Chevy truck. I never have bought a new car.”
“It's not that you can do this calculated move to try to further your career. You just follow what's in your heart, and later you look back and go, 'I was either really dumb or really smart, I can't believe I did that.'”
“I want to be free to be any version of me I feel like being. I don't want to be McDonald's that serves the same food every time.”
“A typical day for me on tour is a marathon - it's like five days rolled into one.”
“Only in country music can you compare an old pickup truck and an old guitar to your wife and turn it into a love song... Thank God for country music.”
“I really love flying, but it's really nice to jump on a plane, sit back, and let someone else do the heavy lifting, but flying is my main passion for sure.”
“I remember somewhere in his 70s, my dad started wearing a nightgown - like an old-school grandpa gown! I can see how that might be somewhere in my future.”
“There should be a whole book written about that one word: country. What does that mean, country? It's such a huge umbrella. I would hope that what makes it country is that it all starts with a song. The story being told in three and a half minutes that is not being told on another station.”
“In my 30s, I became more open to music other than country or bluegrass.”
“I'm trying to call more and text less. I don't want to check my phone 5,000 times a day anymore. It was getting to me. I'm bringing 'old' back.”
“I'm part of the party, getting the crowd fired up, singing songs, pouring drinks, whatever it takes to get them to have a good time. When I walk into the meet-and-greet, someone's always going to have a story, a sad story or a happy story.”
“I think I've claimed the right to be any version of me that I want to be.”
“I like big shows, a lot of volume and a lot of energy. I love electric instruments. But I do love mixing those with bluegrass instruments and cranking those up, too, with a little bit of that rock energy.”
“Music is my first love, and I can't step away from her. I love music, and I love playing and living the dream, but I also miss my family.”
“No, as an artist, you have to be free to explore all the corners of your heart. There are no boundaries.”
“People are gravitating towards Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders because they are doing their own thing. I think people are trying to cut out the middle man and just get to the source and get away from Washington politics.”
“I wrote a song called 'Here on Earth,' and the hook is, 'There's no answers here on earth.' Basically, searching for the 'why' when someone passes away, and I feel really fortunate that my dad lived as long as he did. But no matter what happens or how it happens, it's certainly a stinker.”
“I discovered early on that I was more of a strummer than a picker.”
“Love always had my number. I could never patch a breakup together with whiskey and a one-night stand. I took them real hard.”
“Where I'm at in my relationship with my wife or my family and life in general, I feel like it all comes out in the music. Hopefully, it's always there, but in an ambiguous and abstract way and not real straightforward.”