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.

Recap of Dierks at Joe's in NYC: CMA Songwriters Series

DB Congress Cabinet member, Tara Toro, reps for Dierks in New York and is our DBC Facebook page researcher.  She was fortunate to get tickets to the sold out CMA Songwriters shows at Joes' Pub in NYC on September 13, 2012. Check out her inside scoop below!

 L to R: Bob DiPiero, Jim Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Jaren Johnston

Joe's Pub in New York City is such a fantastic venue to see live country music. It is very intimate and reminds you of having a show in your living room since the place only holds 160 people. So when it was announced Dierks would be there on September 13 for a CMA Songwriters series, I knew I had to go. I had seen him there a few times prior and it was amazing. I was very blessed to have gotten tickets for both the 6:30 pm (stage seating thanks to my friend) and 9 pm shows.

The show basically goes in a round, each songwriter playing a song acoustic and telling a story about or related to the song. That night with Dierks it was Jim Beavers, Jaren Johnston from the Cadillac Black and CMA Songwriters Series host Bob DiPiero, who has written more hits than you can imagine.

Dierks first sang, "Am I The Only One," adding that “special third verse” he always does, this time adding in lyrics about bringing country music to NYC. 

His second song was "5-1-5-0."  He told the story which we all know about how he and Jim wrote the song. He also talked about how he was at a school that day in the city and had no idea what to sing to a bunch of 4^th graders. He said he told his wife his songs work for a bunch of rowdy people in a bar and she said those type of people and 4^th graders are kind of the same.  Dierks sang a few bars of Dora the Explorer to us in the crowd, but then said when he got to the school, some of the kids were singing "5-1-5-0," so he sang that song for them. He said he was happy to be a part of CMA bringing music into classrooms.


After that, he sang Home and as his final number went “back to the beginning” and did "What Was I Thinking."  All of his songs were so well received with everyone singing and clapping and having a great time. Bob said,  “they love the sh—out of you Dierks,” to which he and Jim responded, “ew.” 

At some point he dropped his pick into his guitar and lifted the guitar over his head shaking it until it finally came out about one song later. He also demonstrated how Conway Twitty never used to announce his own songs; his bass player would do it while Conway went to the back of the stage for a drink. So Dierks went to the back of the stage, back towards us while I believe Jim did announcing.

The camaraderie between Jim, Dierks and Jaren was evident from the get go. Dierks said Jim was one of his best friends and seemed very proud that Jaren was there. Instead of Bob introducing Jaren, Dierks did the honors. You could tell he sort of has taken him under his wing and is friend and mentor. Dierks said one of his favorite lines is from Jaren’s song, "I’m Southern": I’m Southern and it ain’t my fault, my daddy came from Louisiana like the hot sauce.” 

Jaren was fantastic, but joked that no one knew him and playing his songs after Dierks was the worst place to be in the round. They played, "The Woods"  together, a touch off at first because they each like to play it in a different key but then they got in sync. Jaren joking around said that Dierks had promised him it would be a single and how disappointed he was. They also joked around that Jaren’s song for Keith Urban, "You Gonna Fly," knocked "5-1-5-0" from the top spot.

The 9 pm show was just as fantastic. It started out with them joking about Jim changing his shirt while everyone else wore the same clothes. They also kidded around about how "Red Solo Cup (Toby Keith)" and "5-1-5-0" are sure to have their lyrics engraved on the Country Music Hall of Fame. Dierks teased Jim about how he never offered him RSC and being friends he should have given him that song. 

Dierks sang all of the same songs as the first show, adding "Grab A Beer" with Jaren.  By that time it was almost 10 pm and you could tell they definitely grabbed a few beers. The show closed with "Home."  

Tara was able to give Dierks a growler of some locally brewed NY beer

Lucky for me, I had a street and greet after the show with Dierks and got Jaren to sign my Cadillac black CD.  I cannot wait until the next time Dierks is at Joes Pub!