DIERKS BENTLEY'S NEW 'THREAD' TIES ALL TYPES OF MUSIC TOGETHER

Dierks Bentley started a new venture today! The Legend 650 AM - WSM radio gave him his own show! For an hour every Monday, Dierks picks and grins (at least I could hear it in his voice!) and spins the songs and stories that deeply rooted him in the Nashville, Tennessee scene about 15 years ago.

"I'm so excited! I can't believe they let me take over the airwaves! Thanks for letting me take up an hour of your air time! I cannot believe they turned the controls over to me!"

If Bluegrass music makes your heart strings happy, then you won't want to miss this first show. Dierks talks proudly of his early days at The Station Inn (his favorite bar), where so many legendary Bluegrass musicians took him under their wing and taught him to love the genre. People like his favorite band, The Sidemen, a staple at The Station Inn. And Jason Carter. "Jason got me up to speed pretty quick on blugrass."

Yes, the experience every Tuesday night is where he got his daily dose of education and it left an indelible mark on his soul. So much so, that Dierks is now releasing a Bluegrass album this summer to pay homage.

You'll hear Dierks tell some trivia about Gene Wooten, "...a great friend in the Bluegrass community who's no longer with us." Dierks bought his first lawn mower from him for about $20. "He took me under his wing and taught me a lot about Bluegrass."

Dierks features The Grascals, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, Mike Bubb, Mike Compton, Flatt and Scruggs, Jimmy Campbell, Terry Eldgridge, Jimmy Martin, and George Jones - the greatest country singer of all time as far as Dierks is concerned - singing "Why Baby, Why."

The reason for calling the show The Thread, Dierks says, is to play all types of music each week -- Texas, Oklahoma, Americana, Country, and Bluegrass, showing us the common points between all these types of music. You can take a Bluegrass band with the fiddle, dobros, mandolins, banjos and still play 'Country' music.

The show ended with the father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe.

Ring the bell! Ring the bell! I'm ringing the virtual bell for Bentley! (Listen to show and you'll know what that means!)

Thanks to Nid and dierksfans.com for the audio archive.