Phoenix, AZ · country

Dierks Bentley

1 upcoming festival

Two decades of arena country with a bluegrass streak — an easygoing showman who still sneaks banjo records between the radio hits.

Dierks Bentley grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved to Nashville as a young man, working at what became the Great American Country network and playing the city's clubs before signing to Capitol Nashville. His self-titled debut arrived in 2003, and he has since spent two decades as a fixture of mainstream country radio.

Alongside the arena-scale singles, Bentley has kept a consistent interest in bluegrass, recording an acoustic-leaning album, Up on the Ridge, and regularly folding banjo, fiddle and harmony singing into his work. Live, he tends toward loose, high-energy shows rather than tightly scripted ones.

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