A biography for Dierks Bentleyhasn’t been written yet.
“I got into rock music at thirteen, listening to Van Halen, learned how to play the electric guitar.”
“That's what I love about Nashville and the music community - seeing kids around acoustic music and bluegrass picking parties is the best.”
“It's Frederick Dierks Bentley, but my whole family goes by their middle name - my sister, my brother. So from day one, I've always been called Dierks.”
“I see myself as a serious artist, but yeah, when people come to my shows, they want to hear 'What Was I Thinkin',' 'Drunk on a Plane,' and lots of up-tempo, fun songs.”
“I love singing fun songs; I've built a career on them.”
“My dog Jake ran up to Dolly Parton, and he put his nose up her skirt. We were like, 'Oh my God, don't do that.' I didn't know Dolly, and she said, 'Watch out there little doggie, don't start something you can't finish.'”
“Honestly, I sleep best wearing nothing. But with kids, I've learned to sleep with underwear very close by, if not wrapped around one of my feet, so I'm ready to go if something happens.”
“Whether lyrically or musically, it reaches in there and grabs your soul. That's the stuff I gravitate toward.”
“I ask myself all the time, 'Why keep doing this?' If I wasn't exploring or finding something to write about that was personal or meant something, there'd be no reason. If I was ever making a record just to make a record, or ever just like, 'Just put something out there that someone will buy,' I would quit.”
“I hung out with Merle Haggard on his bus, which sort of freaks me out. It was him and his wife. We played with Merle in Oklahoma City. I'm from Arizona, and we talked about Arizona, and he remembered playing for two dollars a day down there at a bar.”
“Most of my read on America is through looking through the front windshield of a bus and hanging out with country music fans backstage.”
“I get nervous playing the Opry still. You take that nervous energy and channel it into being amped.”
“I always say the best applause you can get is when you walk from backstage up to your microphone at a concert. It's also nice to walk up to the mike at an awards show, and that applause is great, too, but the best is when your fans are cheering for you.”
“When you go to the Opry for a show or hear it on the radio, you get the whole circle of country music.”
“I was 17, and a friend said, 'Man, you've got to listen to this song,' and he played 'Man to Man.' From there on, I was hooked on country. Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black. Every show that came through America West Arena, I was there.”
“The transformation that happens when a young artist goes on the road - you put the acoustic guitar down and start to play the electric a little louder - it gets a little bit ragged.”
“I try to make sure to get off the bus as much as I can, try to do something during the day that's local to where I am, whether it's hiking or fishing.”
“I've known my wife since we were 13 years old in eighth grade, and we kinda dated each other's best friends. The four of us always hung out, but I really wanted her. We dated around 17, but I was no way mature enough for her.”
“If I'm not on stage, I'm a pilot. I like flying planes; I have a little plane back in Nashville.”
“I go from being in front of 2,000 people, shot-gunning beers on stage and acting like a complete idiot, to being in a Mommy and Me class, waving a little pink handkerchief around 12 hours later!”