Music Notes: Dierks Bentley

True, with a name like Dierks, there’s bound to be a struggle just walking the earth. Pronunciation mishaps are inevitable, even when unintentional, but the name Dierks Bentley just begs a little horseplay as well.

Bentley says “I’ve been called everything you can possibly imagine except Dierks; it’s a hard name to get right. I’ve probably had it happen onstage before, ‘Welcome Kirks Dentley and Firks Fentley.. Jerks Gently…” With adversity comes strength and character, and this country music artist personifies plenty of both.

This should come as no surprise; this country star is a biker. He’s not just a fair weather celebrity biker either. As he travels the country playing on the Kenny Chesney sold-out record-breaking tour and headlining his own concerts, his Harley-Davidson is his dutiful travel companion.

“I carry my bike out there on the road and ride it all over the country wherever we go. We pull into a different venue in a different state, I get the bike out and I go ride around.”

And why wouldn’t he? He worked long and hard to achieve his proud purchase. He first owned a 1981 CX-500 Honda for six years that he paid $700 for and sold for $800. Those Hondas retain their investment, sure, but he says, “I always wanted a Harley, and when I finally made the money in the music business I bought a 100 year anniversary 2003 Softtail. It’s a great bike. I don’t have to worry about it falling apart on me [while] going down the road at 80 mph.”

He loves that Harley, but Dierks also muses, “Hopefully in the next couple of years things will slow down and I can look into different bikes. Being a guy, I’d like looking at a little more of a chopper type of motorcycle, but I sure have enjoyed the Harley a bunch.”

One recent stop Dierks and his Softail made was at Ford Park Pavilion in Beaumont, Texas for the “DudeBrahBrew Music Festival” held in July. Dierks headlined the shindig, sharing the stage with Texas icons Kevin Fowler and the Randy Rogers Band, as well as some of those “boys from Oklahoma” Stoney LaRue and the band No Justice. What bona-fide beer drinkin’, hell-raisin’ redneck could ask for a better lineup?

Though Dierks Bentley has undeniably made it into “the show”, he cut his chops on the road with these guys and others like them and has the deepest respect for their talent and creativity. When talking about Fowler and Rogers, he says, “Kevin is just The Dancehall Doctor. He comes in there and just turns any place into a dancehall. And Randy just – every time I see them they get more tight as a band and have great songs and...

We hope that you enjoyed reading this excerpt from "Dierks Bentley". If you would like to read the entire article and more, you can order a back issue of Sep / Oct 2006 where this article was originally published.

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