Black: #1 in Our Hearts, and Now on the Charts!

One year after the release of what is considered to be Dierks Bentley’s “most fully-formed release of his career,” the title track, Black, has made it to #1.

Dierks secured his 16^th career #1 single when Black topped the Mediabase radio chart on May 30. It’s also been climbing Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, reaching #2 this week. Following the Platinum Certified and award-winning singles Somewhere on a Beach and Different for Girls from the same album, Black has already been certified Gold.

“Every single we’ve put out this year has been a really important piece of the story of this album, but Black is the one that’s really the cornerstone of the whole project, and it’s about my wife,” Dierks said. “Watching this one rise to the top of the chart is extra sweet.”

A post shared by Dierks Bentley (@dierksbentley) on Jan 13, 2017 at 10:13am PST

The album came together around this title track. According to Dierks, “I wrote the song Black and felt like it was the centerpiece of what the album could be: exploring relationships. It’s kind of dark and moody and sexy, and it’s also my wife’s maiden name, Black, so it has some personal layers to it for me. I felt like it was something I could really go deep on and build an album around.”

Not only is the song itself getting the recognition it deserves, but the video is climbing the charts, as well. The CMT Hot 20 Countdown, as of June 3, has the Black video in the #2 position.

We agree with The Boot in their assessment of the video: “It’s hard to decide what’s more breathtaking: the vast Icelandic scenery or the woman at the center of the clip … who just so happens to be Bentley’s wife, Cassidy!”

A post shared by Dierks Bentley (@dierksbentley) on Jan 13, 2017 at 5:32pm PST

Well, we’d add Dierks to the “breathtaking” description, too.

“I had the idea of putting my wife in the video, which is totally taking her out of her comfort zone, but I just couldn’t imagine doing a video for this song without her in it and she reluctantly agreed. But then totally nailed it,” Dierks said. “It wouldn’t have been genuine without her.”

Filmed in picturesque Reykjavik, Iceland, (during a storm, no less), with director Wes Edwards, the video goes on a journey with Dierks as he follows Cassidy through the breathtaking landscape, finally reaching her at the video's end. At face value, it's sexy and beautiful; when you look at it knowing the relationship it’s describing, it becomes intimate, mature and full of trust.

There’s no question why this video is climbing the charts.

There’s still time to get Black to #1. Request it on your local radio stations and vote for the video!

*Update: Since writing this blog, Black reached #1 on the CMT Hot 20 Countdown, as of June 11!

**Bonus: Read Cassidy's interpretation of Dierks asking her to be in the video!

Jessica Borrelli
DB Congress Rep, WA
@AllTheWayToMe

Hosting, Performing, Three Nominations--Dierks Looks To Have A Big Night at Next Week's ACM Awards

Only one week remains to plan your Black-themed party (or at the very least set your DVR)—the Academy of Country Music Awards are Sunday, April 2. And it’s going to be a BIG night for Dierks Bentley.

Next weekend, Dierks returns to host the 52^nd annual ACM Awards with Luke Bryan.

“It’s a great opportunity and a lot of fun,” Dierks said of hosting the ACMs. “Being in Las Vegas gives it a party atmosphere. I had a great time working on the show [last year], from the jokes and the opening monologue to being creative in a different way. And I love Luke!”

In addition to hosting, Dierks is scheduled to perform live at the show (he hinted at performing “Black” in a recent interview!) PLUS he’s nominated for three (deserved—can we say that?!) awards:

• Male Vocalist of the Year
• Album of the Year, Black
• Vocal Event of the Year, Different for Girls, featuring Elle King

The Black album, a risk for Dierks, has earned numerous accolades, including nine nominations between the ACM, CMA and Grammy awards. It received a GOLD certification in February; it’s the only album in the ACM “Album of the Year” category to have reached this mark.

“Different For Girls” was named the CMA Musical Event of the Year at the 2016 awards show. The song Dierks “lost sleep about” has reached people on a relatable level. He believes having Elle as the female vocal lead helped with that success.

“She took a song that was a great song and made it a Grammy-worthy song!”

While, according to Dierks, hosting the show makes performing at it easier, running the show has its own stressors. On the heels of the Oscars flub earlier this year, Dierks had a realization about hosting this year's ACM Awards.

“The [Oscars] taught us that no matter how prepared we are or how great we do up there, as long as there’s a huge screw up at the end, that’s all they’re going to talk about."

So, they came up with a plan to prevent mishaps.

If something goes wrong, they decided Luke will have a wardrobe malfunction.

“At least that way everyone talks about that and not the show,” Dierks joked.

With a night full of fun, talent and recognition, next Sunday is guaranteed to be a memorable night (for Dierks, especially) as country music takes over Las Vegas.

The ACM Awards are Sunday, April 2, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on CBS.

Jessica Borrelli
DB Congress Rep, WA
@AllTheWayToMe

The Top 16 Dierks Bentley Moments of 2016

The results are in!  Based on your votes, DB Congress, here are the top 16 moments of 2016 for our Prez, Dierks Bentley! 

1. Country Music Hall of Fame Honors Dierks with "Every Mile a Memory" Exhibit
2. Somewhere On A Beach Tour w/ Tucker Beathard, CAM & Randy Houser
3. The "Jet Black" VIP Experience
4. Donated $100k to Dolly Parton's #MyPeopleFund for Smoky Mountains fire victims                                                     
5. Black - The Album released May 27 to record-breaking sales!  
6. First time co-hosting the ACM Awards (with Luke Bryan)
7. Evie, Jordan and Knox Bentley sing with dad at VIP Lounge                                                      
8. Tweeted to DB Congress: "Keep being the greatest fans in country music!"                      
9. 4 CMA Awards nominations, a win for Musical Event of the Year (Different For Girls)                            
10. The "Black" Card! and Black released on VINYL (tie)                            
11. Back to his roots - performance at Legends downtown Nashville 
12. 4 songs, 4 videos, 1 story - leading up to the release of "Black."
13. Dierks and Elle perform "Jackson" on The Grand Ole Opry   
14. Red Rocks show sold out, 2nd night added--special guest Maren Morris
15. Featured in "Forever Country" video tribute to legends who shaped country music
16. ACM Nominations for Male Vocalist and Video of the Year (Riser)                                

Honorable Mentions:

Different For Girls feat. Elle King (2nd single from Black) becomes his 15th #1 and RIAA certified Gold.  Live from Nashville - Good Morning, America performance.  Somewhere On A Beach-lead single from Black--goes #1 and RIAA certified Platinum! Nominated for a Grammy for his collaboration with Eric Paslay on Charles Kelley's single, "The Driver."  Dierks is the "question" to a Jeopardy answer!  Black released as 3rd single, top 30 in just 5 weeks!  SESAC Award for Song of the Year - Somewhere On A Beach.  Performs on The Ellen Show and gives away a fly-away trip!
Celebrity hockey coach #NHLAllStars.  Kris Kristofferson and Glen Campbell tributes.

One more top Dierks moment that wasn't up for vote - Dierks Emojis! Get them here!

What were you thinkin'?  Were you surprised by the results?  Did we leave out any moments?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Dierks Bentley: "What The Hell Did I Say?" The Video

Ever notice how many questions Dierks Bentley asks in his song titles? First there was What Was I Thinkin', then How Am I Doin'?, and remember Is Anybody Loving You These Days? and Am I The Only One?  Now in the new song from Black - "What The Hell Did I Say" - he's asking again!

Dierks is more or less messing with his fans by building the story of his next album, Black, one song and video at a time.  The anticipation is killing us!  But we're loving the intrigue so far!

The second installment of the mini-video series premiered April 15, "What The Hell Did I Say," follows the same actors - girl, boyfriend and lover portrayed in the first video, "I'll Be The Moon."

The love triangle gets even more tangled up when the boyfriend sees the girl's phone "light up" and read the texts from the lover--who can't remember what the hell he said to her during his drunk dials to her the night before, but she says she 'loved every single word' he 'left on her phone."

Dierks seems to be having fun with this one, and songwriters Ross Copperman, Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins found a few new verbs: Did I say we'd go shopping?That I'd 'LouisVuitton her'?/ That I'd 'Rodeo Drive' her?

Dierks tells Rolling Stone:  "I love singing fun songs; I've built a career on them. With 'What the Hell,' it's a fun, morning-after song.  The video is a chance to take it somewhere else and keep the conversation wide open" 

The consequences of "What The Hell Did I Say" may be revealed in the third song/video, "Pick Up," premieres April 29 exclusively via Rolling Stone Country.

Songwriters: Ross Copperman / Josh Kear / Chris Tompkins

Woke up this morning with my cellphone ringing
She said, "I know that when you called me, you were drinking
But I loved every single word you left on my phone
And I know you're hungover but I'm coming on over"
Did I say we'd go shopping? That I'd Louis Vuitton her?
That I'd Rodeo Drive her? Slide a Tiffany diamond on her?

What the hell did I say when I called last night
Dripping loads of whiskey honey in that message that the liked
What the hell did I say? Gotta dial it up again
I'm writing out those lines that fell out drunk at 3 am
What the hell did I, hell did I, hell did I say?
What the hell did I, hell did I, hell did I say?

Last thing I remember, I was thinking I'd call her up
And put her on speaker while the whole bar sang Free Bird
Had that phone in my hand when I ran into trouble
My friend coming over with a couple of doubles

Chorus

Did I say we'd go shopping? That I'd Louis Vuitton her?
That I'd Rodeo Drive her? Slide a Tiffany diamond on her?
Did I tell her she could move in and we'd fly out to Vegas
Champagne all the way and we'd get married by Elvis

Chorus

What the hell did I say?
What the hell did I say?
---

Leave a comment.  Are you Team Boyfriend or Team Lover?

Black is due out May 27.  Get your BlackCard today to preorder and get special perks along the way!

Dierks Goes "Black" With New Album

Always pushing the envelope artistically, with Dierks Bentley's eighth studio album Black he promises to bring more of that bold edginess, saying "I had to dig deep...and record songs that explore the shadows and edges of the heart."

He's never been one to put out a record for the sole purpose to sell records or garner radio airplay (Remember Grammy-nominated "Up On The Ridge?").

“I ask myself all the time, ‘Why keep doing this?’ If I wasn’t exploring or finding something to write about that was personal or meant something, there’d be no reason. If I was ever making a record just to make a record, or ever just like, ‘Just put something out there that someone will buy,’ I would quit. I really would.”

That's the reason we love and support our DB Congress President and will be Dierks fans for life!

It's not surprising that Black will be about his personal relationships, giving us an in-depth account of his ten-year marriage to wife, Cassidy, whose maiden name (coincidentally?) is Black.

"Some people associate red with love, but to me red is for an earlier stage of a relationship,” Bentley says. “Black is much deeper, to me. It’s certainly the sexiest color. [And] this record has a sexiness, in a well-worn leather-jacket kind of way. It’s not glossy sexy—there’s a realness to it.  A lot of it happens after dark, in the black of night.  The kicker is that my wife’s last name is Black."

Watch the Black album trailer here.  Listen to the background music.  We're thinking it's possibly from the title cut.  What do you think?  If so, we're loving the edgy sound!

"The songs on Black range from the lonesomeness of an impossible relationship to ones that describe the feeling of finding that person that makes you forget the one that broke your heart."

The Lead Single

Although not officially announced yet via DB's camp, according to All Access Music, the lead single from Black will be "Somewhere On A Beach" going for radio adds January 25, 2016.  Co-written by Jaron Boyer, David Kuncio, Josh Mirenda, Alex Palmer and Michael Tyler Spragg, we've been told the title is deceiving.  Decide for yourself--set your DVR's for The Ellen Show for Tuesday, January 19, where Dierks is expected to perform the new single. Songwriter, Josh Mirenda posted on our Facebook page that he hears it's pretty good!

We also believe all the iHeart radio stations will be giving airplay to SOAB every hour, on the half hour on Tuesday as well, based on a tweet from AJ and Ashley (K92 in Orlando):

You can also tune in via the iHeart app on Tuesday if you don't have a local iHeart Radio station, and we'd be surprised if SiriusXM's the Highway didn't debut it hourly, too! (This will easily be Dierks' most-added and highest debuting single to date!)

Black was produced by Ross Copperman (Riser producer and co-writer on Tip It On Back), who also is listed as a co-writer on the title cut, along with Bentley and Ashley Gorley.  According to Windmills Music, other registered tracks that could possibly be album cuts include eleven more from Copperman.  Check out the rest of the list here.

The Black Card

Leave it to Dierks' Red Light Management team and Kevin Grace, Manager of Digital & Content, to find a creative way to promote the new album and build excitement.  You can order your very own "Black" Card that will pay for your pre-order of the album and get you access to unreleased songs, one of a kind merch items, special discounts, bonus videos and other surprises.  You also get entry into the official All Access Black Ticket Sweepstakes to win a fly-away to opening night of the tour, hotel accommodations, a meet and greet with Dierks and the ultimate prize of two tickets to every show on the tour!

Once you receive your Black Card in the mail, it will give you a unique code that you can use to access the exclusive Black Card content. Each time Dierks releases new content to the Black Card Content Page, an email will be sent to your account updating you about the new content.  Get yours at dierks.com for $16.99.

The Black album will ship within the next couple months.  We're guessing for a mid to late March release date, to align with the ACM Awards timing, where he will co-host with Luke Bryan April 3.

On Monday, Dierks took time out of his busy schedule to chat with fans on Twitter about the upcoming album.  He replied to questions from several DB Congress reps!  Here are a few of our favorites:

Rita is a DBC Rep in Ireland

Harriett reps Dierks in North Carolina

Lilian is a DBC rep in Brazil!

Dierks is currently up for a Grammy for his collaboration with Eric Paslay on Charles Kelley's single, "The Driver."