We’ve posted a few times already about country crooner Dierks Bentley, and his upcoming CD, Up On The Ridge. It is due on June 8 from Capitol Records, with an assist from Sugar Hill, and is being promoted as his salute to bluegrass and Americana music.
Nashville grassers have been familiar with Bentley since he first hit town, long before he was snapped up by Capitol and hit it big. He was a regular at the Station Inn, showing up at area jams and even studying mandolin with the late Butch Baldassari. He has both appeared on albums by The Grascals, and has had them on his projects – including this new one.
Bentley is up-front about his love for bluegrass music, and has told friends for years that he would do a grass project as soon as he was able. And he has kept his word.
“I fell in love with this kind of music the first time I walked into the Station Inn with a fake I.D. at 19 years old … these guys, who were my age, were playing their instruments so hard it knocked your head back. After that, I never missed a Tuesday night there for eight years. Without the whole bluegrass community taking me in and helping me find my foundation, I would have had no place to start from. It’s my foundation.”
Up On The Ridge was produced by Jon Randall – a former bluegrasser and a remarkable guitarist and vocalist in his own right – and features contributions from Punch Brothers, Del McCoury, Alison Krauss, Tim O’Brien, Vince Gill, Rob Ickes, Sonya Isaacs, Kris Kristofferson, Stuart Duncan, Chris Stapleton, Jamey Johnson and Miranda Lambert. Most of the material was written by Bentley and Randall, with cool covers of Bob Dylan’s Señor, and U2’s In The Name Of Love (a duet with McCoury).
Here’s video promo from the CD with a taste of what in included.
http://media.libsyn.com/media/thegrasscast/Dierks_Promo_Cut.movA 24 date/30 day tour is scheduled in support of this new CD, and we expect to speak with Dierks about this project before its June release. Looks like a good’n, folks.
