DIERKS GETS TO BE "DEL" FOR PRE-RELEASE TOUR

Dierks Bentley played in Boulder, Colorado last night, and hits the stage in Colorado Springs tonight. My good friend and fellow DB Congress rep, Janet lives there and called me from the concert last night! Free and Easy, bluegrass style, is still a real toe-tapper.

When talking about his pre-release tour for the upcoming, Up On The Ridge album in stores June 8, Dierks had this to say:

"As soon as I started thinking about doing [U2 song] 'Pride' with Del McCoury and the Punch Brothers, I was like OK, we're not making a traditional bluegrass record," says Bentley. "This isn't going to be side project. It's going to be a career record for me," Dierks told the Colorado Springs Independent.

"We're calling this a pre-release tour. It's just a chance for me to go out and have fun. I'm going to have so much fun on this tour I'll be grinning from ear to ear, because I just can't believe I get the chance to hang out with my best friends and play, and I get to be the Del of the Del McCoury Band, which are impossible shoes to fill."

Read the whole article here.

Watch as Dierks and Del rehearse for Delfest in 2008: