CMA Close Up: Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley Returns to CMA Songwriters Series in New York By Bob Doerschuk - 10/16/12 News Service (via email) © 2012 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. On Sept. 6, former CMA intern Dierks Bentley renewed his ties to the organization during a visit to New York City. Midday was devoted to a visit to PS 103, the Hector Fontanez School, in the Bronx, where a CMA donation of $20,000 enabled the school to open a music program for students for the first time. To commemorate this first outreach beyond the Nashville area of CMA’s Keep the Music Playing program, the artist shared his thoughts with an assembly of fourth-graders about the value of learning about music – and was delighted when they started singing along as he performed “5-1-5-0,” which they had rehearsed prior to his arrival. “It’s a great honor to be a part of this, to get a bunch of musical instruments to the classroom so teachers for the first time can have music as an option for their curriculum,” he reflected while on his way out from Manhattan for this event. “I’m really excited to see how all the money that’s been raised through CMA is being used here.” Hours after receiving his surprise serenade, Bentley was back in Manhattan to participate in that evening’s CMA Songwriters Series show at Joe’s Pub, along with Jim Beavers, Jaren Johnston and host Bob DiPiero. The atmosphere there was a bit different than at PS 103. Certainly the audience was older. But both of these CMA initiatives are about bringing music to people in ways they might not yet have experienced. “The big goal tonight is just to represent Country Music and CMA, to show all the work that goes into Country Music and provide a wide spectrum of what it is,” Bentley said. “What makes Country Music great, what comes out of these writers’ nights, is the song. We pass along, hopefully, some great songs to people, whether they’re Country fans or not. If they weren’t Country fans before, hopefully they’ll walk out as new ones.” Most who take part in the Songwriters Series work behind the scenes, writing words and music that singers might turn into hits. Usually, though, at least one participant is a high-profile performer too. For them, these shows provide an interesting contrast to their usual onstage presentations. “It’s totally different,” Bentley acknowledged. “Before my live shows, I’ll be listening to the Foo Fighters or Van Halen at the loudest possible volume, jumping up and down, going crazy. You have to get ready to go out and fight. Tonight, it’ll be a laid-back hang with the guys. We’ll have some beers, laugh and catch up. Then we’ll go out onstage with that same vibe, sit down on our stools, tell some stories and have fun with the crowd.” Some preparation is involved, but spontaneity characterizes most of what happens in the CMA Songwriters Series. “There are definitely no set lists,” Bentley said. “You keep some songs in the back of your head and pick what you’re going to do by feeding off the guy before you and setting up the guy after you. If the two songs before you are about whiskey or something depressing, you want to pick it up — or vice versa. That’s completely different from what I do every other day.” A key goal is to introduce the unsung heroes of Music Row and spotlight their songs as examples of modern Country craftsmanship. But there are performance elements in this setting too, just as on an arena stage. “This is really Bob DiPiero’s thing,” Bentley said. “He’s the top — the Kenny Chesney of writers’ rounds. He can hold the audience in the palm of his hand. Guys like Bob and Rivers Rutherford, they just smoke me every time in these writers’ nights.” Having played his share of writer nights at the Bluebird Cafe, Douglas Corner Café and elsewhere as a newcomer to Nashville in the mid ‘90s, Bentley more than holds his own in any live situation — including a roomful of young fans at PS 103. That experience stirred memories of his experiences with music education, at Phoenix Country Day School in Arizona. “They didn’t have electric guitars in the school band,” he remembered. “So I wanted to play bass guitar, but a guy named Ryan Fox had already lined that up. So I had to go with the saxophone, which was definitely not my instrument of choice. But it ended up being great. I learned to read music and to play along with other people. It definitely planted a seed and showed me that music could be played rather than just listened to. Bentley thought for a second and then laughed. “I should have brought that saxophone along and donated it today. It might have had more use than it’s getting now.” Upcoming shows in the CMA Songwriters Series will include Oct. 24 at Joe’s Bar in Chicago and Oct. 25 at Joe’s Pub in New York City; both will feature DiPiero as host, with Kendell Marvel, Leslie Satcher and Sunny Sweeney at both shows. And on Wednesday, Oct. 31, the CMA Songwriters Series debuts at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, with host DiPiero, Kristian Bush of Sugarland and Brantley Gilbert confirmed thus far. For more information on the CMA Songwriters Series, visit www.CMASongwritersSeries.com.

Dierks Bentley: Radio Host

Dierks Bentley hosts his own hour-long radio show, "The Thread" every Monday on WSM. CMA Closeup published this article: "Switching Hats: Country Artists Connect As Radio Hosts," By Vernell Hackett.

© 2010 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

For as long as there’s been radio, there have been on-air personalities whose talents centered on keeping listeners tuned in long enough to connect with artists and advertisers. For performers seeking to build their fan base, this formula has worked for decades, especially when encouraged by radio tours, to visit with DJs in as many markets as possible and encourage them to play their new single.

But with media, roles, options and other elements in the business shifting around so quickly, some artists are looking to expand their choices for exposure. And one trend involves artists moving to the other side of the microphone, as hosts of their own radio programs.

In years past, it wasn’t unusual for a singer to hold down a gig at a local radio station before moving to Nashville. Tom T. Hall, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Charlie Walker did it — but Holly Dunn reversed the formula in 1997. Already a recording artist with a string of hits that included “Are You Ever Gonna Love Me” and “Daddy’s Hands,” she accepted a job that year as morning DJ at WWWW/Detroit. Dunn, who had majored in broadcasting at Abilene Christian University, averaged more than 300,000 listeners per day for a year before returning to Nashville.

Today, Kix Brooks is heard nationally as host of “American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks” over Citadel Media. Kenny Chesney has overseen his own online show, “No Shoes Radio,” since August 2009. And in March, three artists — Dierks Bentley, Jim Lauderdale and Pam Tillis — have launched their own weekly, hour-long shows on 650 WSM-AM/Nashville, each one beginning at 2 PM/CT. The shows can also be heard online at www.WSMonline.com or as podcasts via iTunes.

The idea was conceived by Joe Limardi, Operations Manager, WSM Radio. “We have so many artists in as guests,” he explained. “Some are so good and have such good stories to tell and a love for music that’s not their own, I thought, ‘Why not let them be creative on air and offer them the opportunity to do their own show?’”

The first person Limardi asked was Bentley. “When I was approached about doing the show, I jumped on it,” the singer recalled. “I love WSM, I love its history and I love the idea of having my voice broadcast on those airwaves.”

Bentley came up with the name for his show, which airs every Monday. It’s called “The Thread” because it embraces all of the music that has influenced Bentley. He spent a lot of time at the Station Inn after his arrival in Nashville; today, performances from that famous acoustic/bluegrass venue are often featured on his broadcasts. Other hours are dedicated to themes reflected in their titles, which include “Ray Price: Priceless” and “The Thing About Don Williams.” Every now and then something unexpected adds to the mix, including a visit by WSM DJ Eddie Stubbs one day as he was in the midst of taping his show.

“He is a hero of mine and I try to imitate him,” admitted Bentley, who added that while it was challenging to come up with a focus for each show and material to fit that focus, the process has become easier with time.

After “The Thread” started airing, Tillis got in touch with Limardi and expressed interest in doing a show as well. “Pam came up with the name ‘Lettin’ My Roots Show,’ and if you listen to it (on Tuesdays), the show does go back to her roots in music and the relationships she’s built in Nashville,” said Limardi. “She has a genuine appreciation for all styles of music.”

Having grown up in Country Music, Tillis enjoys sharing memories and stories from her childhood in Nashville and on the road with her father, Country Music Hall of Fame member Mel Tillis. Each of her shows also centers on one theme, ranging from Native American music to political Country and The Beatles’ impact on Country Music.

“My first reaction about doing the radio show was that it sounds like fun but I don’t know how I could fit one more thing into my life,” Tillis said. “It would have been easier to just randomly pull songs, but I really like the idea of themes, which is harder to do and takes more effort.”

Though she does most of this work, Tillis credits her radio producer, Shannon McCombs, for helping her pull it together. “Sometimes Shannon will go, ‘Please just let me run with it,’” she said. “But I’m real hands-on with everything I do. I get manic about it, but it’s been worth it to me.”

One of the singer’s favorite shows was about her family. Her brother Mel Jr., known as Sonny, and sister Carrie April had never been on radio before being featured on “Lettin’ My Roots Show.” “My brother wrote ‘When I Think About Angels,’” Tillis said, referring to the Jamie O’Neal No. 1 single that he wrote with O’Neal and Roxie Dean. “So I played some of his songs. And my baby sister is an amazing singer, so I played some of her work. I even found something with her and me in Branson. And I ran across this old audio clip of dad and me, when I was 17 and I was on ‘The Mike Douglas Show’ with him. I was sitting at the computer, programming this for my show, and I was crying because things like that are fun to share.”

Having established the model with Bentley and Tillis, WSM didn’t have to go too far when it decided to look for an artist to host an Americana show. “Jim Lauderdale hosts our weekly roots show (‘Music City Roots: Live from the Loveless Café’), and we thought he would be perfect for an Americana show,” Limardi said. “He has such eclectic taste in music, which you can hear on his show.”

Lauderdale had some background as a radio host as he launched “The Jim Lauderdale Show,” which airs every Wednesday. Along with that experience at a college radio station in South Carolina, he brings a selection of CDs from home for each show that he tapes, which he supplements by going through the WSM library.

“I have a general idea of what I might play, and Shannon (McCombs) is a big help with organizing and suggesting,” Lauderdale said. “I love WSM, and what I try to do on the show is play about two-thirds traditional Country and some bluegrass and then throw in some singer/songwriter stuff. I don’t want to get too way out. The music has to flow with the rest of the songs that day on the station.”

After the Nashville flood in May, Lauderdale tried something a little unusual on his show. “I had the urge to do the show live, which is something I really enjoy doing and will do again as my schedule allows,” he said. “The WSM studio out by Opryland was under water, so we had to go out to Brentwood, south of Nashville, to the studio at the big tower, which is just off of Interstate 65 South. My slot is right after Joe Limardi’s show, so he runs things for me technically. Shannon was there too, and we really had a great time. I hope that comes across on the air.”

Once he had these three artists in place, Limardi needed to fill the 2 PM slot on Thursday. As a result, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show comes in the third Thursday of every month to play music from his personal collection of recordings from the 1920s and 1930s. The remaining Thursdays feature a rotating list of hosts, which have included Mark Chesnutt, Dailey & Vincent, Billy Dean, Jack Ingram, Jewel, Sammy Kershaw, Lorrie Morgan and Dana Williams of Diamond Rio.

“The coolest part of it all is that it started with the idea of one artist and snowballed, with all these great artists who come in and say they’d like to do a show,” Limardi said.

While all of these artists enjoy dabbling in radio, none is ready to trade the stage for the studio as their top professional priority.

“I enjoy this but what I love is performing and touring and writing songs and making records,” Bentley insisted. "That occupies a lot of my time.”

“I love finding out the history of the music, turning up things I didn’t know,” Tillis said. “I’m learning, and I hope the audience is enjoying learning with me. I’ll come up with an idea and think, ‘How am I gonna do a show around this?’ And somehow I find it. I did a cowgirl show — who would think you could do that, but I did!”

On the Web: http://www.wsmonline.com/

Photo credit: Tyne Whitten

Bentley Says "Fans...Know Who I Am"

Dierks Bentley Cultivates the Common Ground of Country and Bluegrass with ‘Up on the Ridge’

By Lorie Hollabaugh

© 2010 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

On hearing the very first notes of the swampy riff that would become the title track of his new album, Up on the Ridge, Dierks Bentley knew that he and co-writer Angelo (Petraglia) were onto something that wouldn’t be encumbered by genre titles. And so the original plan of writing for two separate projects, one Country and one bluegrass, was shelved; instead of trying to serve two masters, they decided to just let the music come.

“When Angelo played me that riff, that was the turning point,” Bentley recalled. “I remember hearing that, going, ‘Well, that’s a Country thing. It’s definitely a bluegrassy vibe. I don’t know what this is exactly, but it has to be on the record I’m making.’”

Inspired to put together an album that reflects his love for bluegrass and acoustic music, Bentley approached his longtime friend Jon Randall Stewart to produce. “I kept thinking about who I would get to work on this,” Bentley said. “I know Tim O’Brien. I know Alison (Krauss). I know Sam Bush. They’re all friends. But I kept thinking about Jon Randall and how far back he goes. He’s like the Kevin Bacon of Nashville: He knows everybody, he’s played with everybody, he’s one of the most talented overall musicians in Nashville — he’s unbelievable!”

“We were sitting, having some whiskey, and he said he was thinking about making this record and would I help,” said Stewart. “I said, ‘Have you lost your mind? You’re on your seventh No. 1 and you want to make a bluegrass record with your buddy?’ But as we sat there talking, we realized bluegrass is like every other genre: The boundaries have stretched. Dierks and I grew up listening to New Grass Revival, The Seldom Scene, Alison Krauss and all those people, so for us it was, ‘Let’s use that as our template. Let’s incorporate it.’ And the very first thing we thought of, which should tell you how crazy all this is, was the idea of doing a U2 song (‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’) with Del McCoury.”

As they began recruiting a cast of bluegrass heavyweights and guests, it became clear to Stewart that the toughest part of the process involved coordinating schedules for Bentley, engineer Gary Paczosa, and Sam Bush, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Miranda Lambert, Punch Brothers and Chris Thile, among other invited artists.

“The toughest thing about this record, when you have special guests and a smaller budget, is trying to get people in on the same day,” Stewart said. “It’s ridiculous! Scheduling was a nightmare because you’ve only got so many musicians that know how to play this kind of music. Then there are only so many guys if you step out of Flatt-and-Scruggs bluegrass. These aren’t your normal A-team, Country session guys, because it’s a whole other kind of music.”

From hatching the idea to laying tracks in the studio, Up on the Ridge took shape in ways that have little to do with business as usual along Music Row. Though radio and critics would eventually validate the album as the right project at the right time in Bentley’s career, Bentley did have a few initial concerns about changing things up and going acoustic at the top of his game. But he’s never been one to make his music according to trends or popular opinion — a characteristic that’s affirmed throughout this successful experiment of an album.

“I think the first thing I asked myself was, ‘Do you want to call this a side project and kind of have an out? Or do you believe in what you’re doing and want to stand up for it and act on faith and put your money where your mouth is when it comes to why you go into doing this?’” said Bentley, who co-wrote five tracks on the album. “You get known for a certain sound you’ve established — or you get known for having curly hair and you cut it off. People like to think of you as one thing, and Country is all about having a brand. But as a songwriter, it’s not just about winning the game all the time. It’s about trying to make great music that you will be excited about and taking a chance to veer left or right a little bit. I love playing for large audiences. I love what we’ve built. I don’t want to do anything to take away from that, and I don’t think I am. I think I’m just adding to it.

Hopefully my fans that have been asking for me to do this for a long time, they know who I am. My records have always had a bluegrass song on there. This is just me reclaiming part of what makes me who I am.”

Bentley’s record label knows better than anyone what this artist is about, which is why they’ve treated Up on the Ridge exactly as they’ve treated each of his other four studio albums — except, perhaps, with even greater anticipation and excitement. “They totally have been behind it. I know how lucky I am to have (Mike) Dungan and the whole Capitol team. He’s kind of like the Herb Kelleher of Country Music,” Bentley said, referring to the Co-Founder and former Executive Chairman, President and CEO of Southwest Airlines. “He makes a team environment and gets excited and passionate about stuff, and he hires good people.”

As President and CEO of Capitol Records Nashville, Dungan has the insight and experience to know that veering into uncharted musical territory can be dicey. Yet if the artist has talent and vision, and the music is an organic, honest fit, that can more than mitigate the risk. “Mike Dungan was great. He just said, ‘Go make a record.’ Of course, Dierks has had seven No. 1s, and we’re going to make a bluegrass record … great! No pressure on me,” said Stewart, with a laugh.

“It’s always a risk to step out into a side project like this,” Dungan said. “However, the music is so good and this was such a natural fit for Dierks that we were pretty confident that no matter what, we would have quality at the end of the line. And that’s exactly what we got.

This is a kid who moved from Phoenix and discovered that whole acoustic world at the Station Inn and became a regular down there, first in the audience and then getting up onstage and playing with anybody and everybody. This is so much a part of Dierks’ general makeup and I think he found this record easier to make than a regular Dierks record. It’s such a natural fit for him and he knows the genre and the players and the music so well.”

Despite the rootsy skew throughout Up on the Ridge, Dungan decided to stick with what has become Capitol Nashville’s established strategy for marketing Bentley’s work. “Everyone who heard the record was flipped out about it,” he explained. “So we just ended up marketing it the way we would a mainstream record with the addition of joining forces with Vanguard Records and leaning on their expertise in the bluegrass world to make sure we have all our bases covered in that area.

“The one thing that’s probably going to be the biggest driver of this is television,” Dungan continued. “The minute the TV bookers saw what this project was about and who the players were and the fact it was Dierks Bentley behind it, they jumped on it. In fact, in a lot of cases, they wanted him to come on the show probably before we would ordinarily want him to come on. We would like a lot of these appearances to hit around street date, but we’ve been doing them ahead of time because the bookers have been so anxious to get Dierks in place. TV bookers in general have an appreciation for things that are authentic, and I think that’s what they saw in this.”

If authenticity does indeed open media doors, then Up on the Ridge, which premiered on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at No. 65 in June, may achieve the goal Bentley has for bringing the sound and feel of bluegrass and traditional acoustic Country to new markets. “A lot of people who like bluegrass may hear this and go, ‘It’s not bluegrass. It’s got drums and electric bass,’” he reflected. “Then Country fans may hear it and go, ‘That’s hardcore bluegrass.’ Different people will hear different things. I just hope my Country audience gets excited about hearing these acoustic instruments and these songs, and I hope the bluegrass people will love what we’ve done with some of these songs like ‘Bad Angel’ or ‘Bottle to the Bottom.’ There’s a Country circle and a bluegrass circle, and I tried to lay them on top of each other and find common ground in the two worlds. And I think this record really does that.”

Dierks Bentley will appear on “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock,” a three-hour television special to air Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 8/7c on the ABC Television Network.