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• Mr. Bentley's official site
• Longer bio on Mr. Bentley
• Mr. Bentley on Capitol Records

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Tavis: Dierks Bentley is one of country music's brightest young stars. You gotta love that name: Dierks Bentley. His self-titled debut CD already has gone gold, and next week, he's the favorite to win Top New Artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards. The video for his chart-topping song, 'What Was I Thinkin'?,' was recently named Best New Breakthrough Video. Here's a clip from 'What Was I Thinkin'?'

Dierks Bentley: Well, Becky was a beauty from south Alabama.

Her daddy had a heart like a 9-pound hammer.

Think he even did a little time in the slammer.

What was I thinkin'?

She snuck out one night and met me by the front gate.

Her daddy came out a-wavin' that 12-gauge.

We tore out the drive.

He peppered my tailgate.

What was I thinkin'?

Tavis: Oh, what was I thinkin'? Dierks Bentley, nice to see you.

Bentley: Nice to meet you, Tavis.

Tavis: Nice to have you on. First of all, when I was a kid, I used to hate the name--Sorry, mom. I used to hate the name Tavis Smiley. I mean, as I've gotten older and gotten into this media business, Smiley's a great TV name. It's a great media name. Smiley, you know. But I hated it as a kid growin' up. Have you always liked Dierks Bentley?

Bentley: No, man. I'm the same way. I grew up, it was always said wrong or spelled wrong. It still goes on a little bit these days. Whenever I go to show up and play a gig somewhere, I look at the big sign, the marquee, to make sure it's spelled right, you know? Make sure it's right on the ticket, but it's a family name, so I've taken more pride in that name as I've gotten older.

Tavis: Yeah, I feel the same way. As I got older, I grew to start--I love my name now, but as a kid, I had real problems with it, primarily 'cause, like you said, other people just couldn't get it right. What does "Dierks" come from, though?

Bentley: It's my mom's side of the family. It was a last name. There's actually a town in Arkansas called Dierks, Arkansas. And it's just a family name that was given to me as a first name. It's a cool thing to have a family name.

Tavis: It's a great country music name. Dierks Bentley. I'm lovin' it. Now, what else I love is Jake. On the CD cover, Jake is featured prominently here, and not just on the CD cover here, but Jake was nominated--this is a dog, your dog Jake--was nominated for Best Cameo--there he is--nominated for Best Cameo in a Video. Didn't win--at the recent awards show--did not win, but your dog Jake has made a name for himself as well.

Bentley: You know your career's doing pretty good when your dog's actually up for an award, you know, not just--not just yourself. But he, uh--He's just, you know--It's like having a little kid. I was in a relationship with someone that actually left, you know, and he stuck around, and we just became closer and closer, and everywhere I go, he kind of goes with me. And I did a video, and I had him in the video, and he just kind of has taken on his own little following, you know? It's kind of funny. I have to leave him at home sometimes and remind him what it's like just to be a regular dog and not be out there tryin' to--

Tavis: Ha ha ha!

Bentley: Steal all the attention from me.

Tavis: Yeah. I was disappointed. As a matter of fact, when you walked in, I was goin' like this, looking for Jake. And you didn't bring him today.

Bentley: No. We flew out here, so I left him back in--My bus is meeting us out here. We're playing a couple gigs out here this week, so he'll be out here pretty soon, but he didn't make it today.

Tavis: That's heady stuff, though, to have worked for a long time to try to make a name for yourself in this country music business, and now you're up for these major awards, the favorite to win the Best New Artist. How does it--How you handlin' it?

Bentley: Uh, it feels good. You know, my favorite thing to do is to be onstage playing live music. I've got a great band. We love to be travelin' the country and playing as many dates as possible, and anything awardwise that brings more people, brings more attention to my music, and more attention to my band is a good thing. So, I'm excited to be up for that award, but I mean, really this year, the coolest thing for me is just being on the road with some huge country acts. I opened for George Strait for 2 months, and George Strait's just like, you know--

Tavis: It doesn't get much bigger than George Strait.

Bentley: The king of country music, man. It's just a great crowd, and to be out with him every night is just so much fun. And right now we're on the road with Kenny Chesney. So that to me is the best part, was going on that. The awards are cool and all, but gettin' to play in front of 20,000 people's amazing.

Tavis: Tell me your story, because everybody who I know who wants to break into country music packs up his bags, her bags, and moves down to Tennessee--Nashville, to be specific. You did the same thing as everybody else. You didn't grow up in Nashville.

Bentley: No, I grew up in Arizona, not too far away. We used to come over here to California a bunch in the summers. Like all the Arizona people do, we take over California in the summer. But, uh, yeah, if you wanna play country music, you gotta be in Nashville, Tennessee. There's just no other place to do it.

Tavis: So you went there and put in 10 years of hard work...

Bentley: Yeah. It'll be 10 years in August.

Tavis: Before we got to know who Dierks Bentley is.

Bentley: Yeah. I made a record on my own about 4 years ago, the independent record that helped me get my record deal with Capitol. And this record came out in August. And, yeah, it's a lot of time. It's a big city, and there's so many talented people there. Just like, you know, Los Angeles is for actors. You just gotta go there and get your hands dirty and start listening and learning and trying to figure out exactly how to make your mark, you know.

Tavis: I'm glad you said that. What makes you, then, stand out from that crowd? There are a whole bunch of other folk, I suspect, 10 years ago, in August, who moved to Nashville thinkin' they were gonna be a country star, and some of them are still there strugglin'. And, you know, if you're there and you're workin', keep doin' your thing and keep puttin' it down. Your day will come. But what makes Dierks Bentley stand out? How do you distinguish yourself in this country music genre when everybody's going to Nashville and trying to be a country music star?

Bentley: Sure. I think, you know, the people that are still there after 5, 6 years, it gets discouraging after a while. The people that stick around and keep working at it are the people that are really doing it 'cause they love to do it, you know? Not the people that are trying to be a star, trying to win awards, but the people that are playing music 'cause they love to play music. Which is the case for me. I mean, if I wasn't on stage with Kenny Chesney or George Strait, I'd be playing at the Holiday Inn, you know, doin' something during the day to support my habit. 'Cause it is. It's like a real bad--It's like a habit, you know? You gotta be onstage singin'. But what separates me, probably, from anyone else as far as musicwise is, uh, I love to take the old traditional country music--I love guys like Hank Senior and Hank Junior and just Webb Pierce and Faron Young and all these old fifties and sixties country artists--George Jones. Take that traditional sound and try to write songs with good melodies and good lyrics that take the music somewhere new and fresh and try to bring in a younger crowd to country music. 'Cause I love country music, but I think--I think when it's presented right, it can really reach a lot bigger audience than it is right now, you know?

Tavis: What's "presented right"? You can't say that and have me not follow up on it. You said, "when it's presented right." What do you mean by that?

Bentley: Uh, just keepin' country country, you know? Not trying to take country music and make it more pop-sounding or take it and try to make it sound more rock. Just--You know, country music, to me, is fiddles and mandolin and banjo and Dobro and just not too many chords, you know?

Tavis: So you're a young guy, but you love the old-school country?

Bentley: I do love the old school, but I think my sound is definitely a new sound. You can hear all those instruments in my songs. And country music to me is just about great song-writing--you know, songs that tell stories, songs that you listen to when you're down and you wanna find something to pick you back up, or stuff you listen to when you're having a good time and wanna drink some beers and keep havin' a good time. So I think that's what separates country music from other genres, and I think when you present it just as country music, people that maybe hadn't liked it before will like it.

Tavis: Speaking of big country stars--to add to that list of names you just shared with us--Vince Gill. I heard a funny story about how you first met him and talked him into coming up onstage with you before you were Dierks Bentley.

Bentley: Yeah. He--Nashville just takes so long to get things going, and you're always hoping for a big break. And this wasn't actually a big break for me, but it was a cool thing, 'cause I was able to call home and tell my parents this had happened, to make them keep support--you know, keep believing--

Tavis: Keep sending the checks. Ha ha ha!

Bentley: Help me out every now and then with a little bit of money here and there. I was playin' in a bar one night, just a small bar, and literally a stage-about-this-tall kind of place. And we were playing for free beer. That's what we got paid with. And out of the corner of my eye, I see a guy walk in with his mandolin case, and it was Vince Gill. He walked in just to--He had heard that we were down there playin' bluegrass every Friday night, and he just wanted to come down and pick. So he came down, I invited him onstage, and he ended up playing with us for, like, an hour and a half that night. I got pictures of it, and I sent the pictures back home to my mom, you know, to show her, "Look, this is--I'm making progress." And of course my mom thought I'd airbrushed Vince's picture, you know. "No, he wasn't really onstage with you." I'm like, "Yeah, mom. That was him."

Tavis: You airbrushed him on the stage with you, yeah.

Bentley: But you need little things like that. You know, for every good thing that happens when you're trying to chase a dream, there's 10 things that happen that knock you back down, so you need those little moments you can hold on to and really absorb 'em and keep fighting for your dream. And that's definitely one of them. Vince Gill is an awesome musician and kind of a friend now, too.

Tavis: I was about to ask you, has the relationship continued?

Bentley: A little bit. I was at a basketball game the other day in Nashville, a college game, and I was walking downstairs, and I heard somebody yell out my name. And I turn around, it was Vince Gill yelling, "Hey, Dierks!" "Hey, man." It was pretty cool, pretty cool thing.

Tavis: So what do you wanna do with this ultimately? You're really at the point now where folk are starting to know the name. If they don't know the name Dierks Bentley, it's just a matter of time, like Garth Brooks or Vince Gill, that we'll all know the name. But since it's not for you, as you said earlier, about the money or about the accolades--You love doing this, but what do you ultimately wanna do with it?

Bentley: Really, like I said, my biggest goal is just to be on the road playing music, and I'm getting the chance to do that. I think we're playing 20...or, sorry--200 dates this year on the road.

Tavis: 2--Wait, wait. 200? There are only 365 days in a year, and you're doin' 200 dates.

Bentley: You figure all the travel days, you're gone about 300 days a year.

Tavis: And how do you get around mostly? On the bus?

Bentley: Yeah, I got a big bus.

Tavis: You got a big tour bus now? Oh, you big-time now. Got a big tour bus. So, tell me what's on the inside of your tour bus.

Bentley: I got the tour bus. In the back, I have the trailer with the Harley-Davidsons.

Tavis: You got the tour bus, the trailer, and the Harley? Oh, you livin' large now, man.

Bentley: Oh, it's great, man. To me, you know, some people grow up, I don't know, they idolize trains or something. I just always thought tour busses were the coolest thing, you know? Every time I see one, I wonder where they're going, where they're traveling to.

Tavis: And who's on the inside of it.

Bentley: I got me and my band.

Tavis: No, I'm saying that's always my question when I see them. Where are they going, and who's on the inside of the tour bus?

Bentley: I can be on the road for 3 weeks. I get home, have one day off. I'm so glad to rest, and I see a bus leaving town, and right away I'm like, "Man, I wonder where they're goin'. Oh, man, man." You know, you love being out there on the road, but for me just the ultimate goal is to be able to headline a tour and pick some acts to open up for us and kind of pick the cities and really plan a great tour. Really, I'm livin' out my dream right now, playing music on the road. It's been great.

Tavis: Well, good luck at the awards program. I'm always honored to see anybody achieve their goals, to see come to fruition what they really set out to do, especially when they love it. So I'm glad to see you doing this, man.

Bentley: I appreciate it.

Tavis: Nice to meet you, Dierks. That's our show for tonight. As always, you can catch me on the radio on NPR, and I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A., thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.