Dierks Bentley Celebrates #1 Hit "Drunk On A Plane"

Nashville celebrated Dierks Bentley’s multi-week No. one and Platinum certified “Drunk On A Plane” in Nashville last night at the newly opened venue The Sutler.

Photo L to R: Katie Dean (UMG), Shane Allen (UMG), Royce Risser (UMG), Bentley,
Chris Thompkins, Steve Hodges (UMG) and Mike Sistad (ASCAP)

Industry friends gathered to honor Bentley and co-writers Chris Thompkins and Josh Kear (who was out of the country and unable to attend) for the smash hit, which is the second consecutive No. one off Bentley’s critically acclaimed album RISER and the 12th of his career as both a singer and a songwriter.  

Univeral Music Group's promo team helped celebrate in style, complete with pilot hats, aviator sunglasses and fake mustaches, commemorating Bentley's chart-topping hit, which is nominated for “Single Of The Year” and “Music Video Of The Year” for the upcoming 48th Annual CMA Awards.

See other photos here.

Dierks Bentley Shines In "Say You Do" Music Video

Dierks Bentley's third single from CMA nominated Album of the Year, Riser, doesn't go for radio adds until 10/6, but the video for "Say You Do" made a smokin' hot entrance online today - 9/22.

Written by Matt Ramsay, Shane McAnally and Trevor Rosen, Dierks sings the song with such strong emotion, it's as if he wrote it himself.  In the video, filmed in Canada, he plays the main character with powerful want and hurt and yearning on his face and in his voice, all the while leaving the viewer wondering how in the world anybody would not 'say they do.'

Director Wes Edwards (Tip It On Back, 5-1-5-0, I Hold On) does it again, and will have you begging for more."Today is all about tryin' to capture the loneliness, the yearning, the conflict of the song, and it's all focused on Dierks...no actors," he told ETOnline, who posted behind the scenes footage of Dierks on the set of filming the video.

"I think it's pretty evident there is a hardcore yearning going on in this song, and personally, it's something I've experienced in the worst ways in past relationships," Bentley tells ET. "The song is about wanting something so badly even if it's not good for you, just wanting that love back, which is something I think everyone can relate to at some point in their life."

Ok, we'll go ahead and say it.  Our president is pretty smoking hot in this video!  We don't mind a little smoke getting in our eyes!  No, we're not bending the truth! See for yourself!




View exclusive photos on the "Say You Do" set from US Weekly here.

Dierks Bentley Rises to Lead the 48th CMA Awards Male Nominees with Five

Dierks Bentley is a riser.  If you're a hard-core DB Congress member you already knew that.  But today, the members of the CMA proved they know it, too, by nominating him in five CMA Awards categories: Male Vocalist, Single, Song, Music Video and Album Of The Year.

The number "Five" is significant.  It's the total number of awards the CMA was given for their consideration to vote for Dierks, and its a song on his Album Of The Year nominated, Riser.  Not only is that more nods than the rest of the guys, but only one other artist, his pal Miranda Lambert, earned more with nine nominations.

"I feel like every record I've made I've always given it my all as a songwriter, but for some reason this record came together to make that one album that you always dream of putting out there," Bentley told Rolling Stone Country immediately after getting the good news.

While we guessed the win that would mean the most to Dierks would be Album Of The Year for Riser, he also told Rolling Stone how special the Song of the Year nod for I Hold On is for him:

"...when you think of the craft of songwriting, being nominated for Song of the Year is really special. Every 10 years something like that comes along, and it all works out. ['I Hold On'] wasn't a song that I was even trying to write. I was just talking about the death of my dad, and asked a lot of personal questions about myself."

Read more of Dierks' reaction here.

We could not be happier that the country music industry and his peers are finally taking notice and recognizing Dierks for all his talent that we've been in awe of  for years!

Check out the categories and other nominees below. Which one(s) do you think Dierks has the best chance of winning? Post your thoughts in the comments!

Male Vocalist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

Album of the Year
Crash My Party, Luke Bryan
Fuse, Keith Urban
Platinum, Miranda Lambert
Riser, Dierks Bentley
The Outsiders, Eric Church

Song of the Year (Award goes to songwriters)"Automatic," written by Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby and Miranda Lambert
"Follow Your Arrow," written by Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally
"Give Me Back My Hometown," written by Eric Church and Luke Laird
"I Don't Dance," written by Lee Brice, Rob Hatch, and Dallas Davidson
"I Hold On," written by Brett James and Dierks Bentley

Single of the Year (Award goes to artist and producer)"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Drunk on a Plane," Dierks Bentley
"Give Me Back My Hometown," Eric Church
"Meanwhile Back at Mama's," Tim McGraw featuring Faith Hill
"Mine Would Be You," Blake Shelton

Music Video of the Year"Automatic," Miranda Lambert
"Bartender," Lady Antebellum
"Drunk on a Plane," Dierks Bentley
"Follow Your Arrow," Kacey Musgraves
"Something Bad," Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood

The 48th Annual CMA Awards will air live on November 5th at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.

Grace, The Happy Intern, Gets Surprised by Dierks Bentley

Grace Lenehan is a long time member of the Dierks Bentley Congress, representing Ohio.  But this summer she interned for Sirius XM The Highway and on her last day, Storme Warren surprised her with getting Dierks to stop by the studio on August 14.

Grace found an emotional connection with Dierks's music after watching him perform Long Trip Alone on the Opry on GAC TV in 2006.

Right before he played the song he said, “I don’t know if you’re the praying kind, but if you are, make this your prayer tonight.” I realized that listening to the song in that way put an entirely new meaning on it, and it really hit me hard.  Many artists have music that have said something to me...but Dierks’ music was the first one to really hit me in the face and make me fall in love with country music.

During his visit to The Highway, Dierks did an on-air interview with Storme, who will also be hosting Dierks' Miles and Music For Kids event in Nashville, September 28 at the Riverfront.  Dierks admitted that DB Congress flocked his yard and Storme mentioned Grace was a DB Congress member and she told him she had been to a few Last Call Balls "back in the day."  I had the pleasure of meeting Grace and her mom Carrie at Last Call Ball in 2009.

At the end of the interview, Dierks said he would be filming his next video that weekend for "Say You Do," so I think it's safe to say that's the next single!

Grace was so surprised by his visit, she said that her summer was "complete" and tells how much Dierks and his music means to her in this blog.  She also got a chance to tell Dierks he was one of the artists that got her into country music, and Dierks thought that was the best compliment!

You can listen to the 20 minute audio of the interview with Dierks here.

One of my favorite parts of the audio is toward the end when Dierks reminds everyone again that Grace is a part of the DB Congress.  That emotional connection keeps us fans for life!

Ronna
DB Congress Chair (FL)