Is "Home" Dierks' "House?"

As you know, "Home," the second single off Dierks Bentley's upcoming sixth studio release, went to radio yesterday for immediate airplay, and early reviews are entirely positive. The song was picked up by 4 stations last week, and looks to get many more adds this week, and likely be the Chart's "Hot Shot Debut." 

Roughstock gave the song 5-stars, saying it's perhaps one of the best-written songs Dierks has ever written, and describes the production (by Jon Randall Stewart) as "epic." They liken the song to a U2 or Coldplay epic ballad. 

But what really made me happy - and have a "yes!" moment - was when I was reading Billboard Country Update (unfortunately I don't have a link) this morning, and they likened "Home" to Miranda Lambert's "House That Built Me:" 

Music is primarily a form of entertainment, a way for the listener to enhance or even escape the tedium of everyday life. 

But on occasion, an artist latches onto a song that helps define who we are. Miranda Lambert did that profoundly in her association with “The House That Built Me,” a fact she reinforced during a Sept. 21 rehearsal for her fall tour. Dierks Bentley has done it on a national scale with “Home,” a song that was sent digitally to radio Sept. 26 through PlayMPE.
 
In both cases, the material creates an emotional experience even after repeated listens. And the impact is likely heightened by the songs’ contrast with the artists’ larger body of work. Both Lambert and Bentley have earned a reputation for gritty, edgy material.

Even in rehearsal, “The House That Built Me” continues to stand as a monumental match of artist and song. So likely will Bentley’s “Home.” Where “House” sifted through an individual’s identity, “Home” grapples with the makeup of an entire nation. Bentley wrote it with Brett Beavers and Semisonic founder Dan Wilson after the shooting of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, attempting to make sense of the senseless. The writers ably captured the principles and enormous sacrifices that led to the founding of America while avoiding bumper-sticker patriotism. “Home,” with its simple chordal riff and thoughtful vocal performance, perfectly captures the mood of many Americans, desperate for unity in a difficult time. In that regard, it bears some similarity to Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” written 10 years ago this week, on Sept. 28, 2001. In the context of Bentley’s good-time, party singles—“Sideways,” “How Am I Doin’” and recent No. 1 “Am I the Only One”—“Home” could be even more powerful in concert.
 
Like Lambert’s “The House That Built Me,” “Home” aids listeners in sorting out who we are—and holds out hope that we can be even greater.

I'm so excited to hear this song on the radio, and to continue to hear such great things about it. Let's move this up the charts! 

~ Carrie S. (DBC Rep/Chart Reporter, NC)