Singer-songwriter slowly rose to superstardom in 2000s with a classic pop country sound bearing echoes of a honkytonk past.
A love of country music inspired Dierks Bentley to move to Nashville at the age of 19, but he quickly grew discouraged by a lack of public and professional interest coming his way. An all-night jam session at the Station Inn recharged his batteries and he restarted pursuing gigs while working on demos. Capitol signed him and released his self-titled debut in 2003. Bringing his love of Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings to the forefront, Modern Day Drifter followed two years later and became a Top Ten hit. In 2006, he returned with Long Trip Alone. ~ David Jeffries