Dierks Bentley Stresses The Importance Of ‘Being Present’ With New Single, ‘Gold’

Dierks Bentley recently released the lead single off his upcoming 10^th studio album. In the process of writing his new song, “Gold,” he reignited his passion for music and found gratitude for the present time.

Spending most of 2020 in Colorado, Bentley allowed his body the rest it needed from the hectic artist lifestyle. Instead of being on the road or always in a songwriting session, he used this time to enjoy the great outdoors, hiking, biking, fishing and of course, soaking up family time. This meant his guitar also had a moment of silence as it sat in the closet most days, except for the occasional jam session at home.

Returning to his Nashville reality sparked inspiration for the country star when he sat down to write “Gold” with fellow songwriters Luke Dick, Ross Copperman, Trent Dabbs and Ashley Gorley. It has an “acoustic vibe,” according to Bentley, yet its overall sound and message is big enough to fill all the major venues that he’s hitting on the road.

“I really came back excited to be back in Nashville and excited to just have more gratitude than ever for the town and for all that it’s given me, all the resources there, all the fun that exists in Nashville and on the road and in country music,” Bentley told Country Now and other media outlets.

Instead of coming in with a hook and forming a song around that specific line, the team took a different approach to writing “Gold.”

“We just came in, Luke Dick had a little melody idea, and we just started from nothing. We got the hook while we were in there together, which is the best way to write a song. So it’s really cool to see you go from that to this moment right now.”

Taking nothing for granted, Bentley used his natural gift to shine a light on the present. He resurrected his tell-tale sound while amplifying his talent and reaching new heights sonically.

“I think the song is a lot about just being present in the moment you’re in and recognizing that the grass isn’t always greener, although the mountains are taller in Colorado,” he added. “It’s a message as much for me as it is for anybody else about just gratitude.”

With this song, fans can anticipate a bit of what the rest of the album might sound like. The “Beers On Me” singer originally planned to make the process of creating an album easier by cutting mostly outside songs, but it didn’t prove to be that simple. He ended up writing his own music, going in to cut a few songs, adding new members to his team and repeating the process until he landed on a product that he was happy with.

Three years and many studio visits later, Bentley found that taking the easy route can sometimes end up being even more work. 

“Since I’ve been back Nashville, and really this year, I’ve really been focused on trying to get this thing finished and get it finished the right way. It is the 10th album,” he stressed. “I went in the studio three different times, worked with a lot of different producers and finally just ended up putting together my own team, starting with myself at the center of it.”

Bentley shared that Grammy-winning engineer and producer, Luke Wooten, who worked on several of his earliest records used to always say, “the goal was to mix the bluegrass with the kick ass.” Keeping this advice in mind, the upcoming record will have a mixture of bluegrass, classic country, and of course, “big kick drums, big guitars and big sounds.”

“I really thought, for my 10th album, what are the sounds I’ve had that I wanna make sure I kinda lock as part of my overall sound, looking down the road?”

He added, “I think of all the things have made me who I am on this record.”

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With the release of “Gold” came a fun, care-free video that captures a bit of life on the road with Bentley and his bandmates. Choosing to ride with the band is an abnormal situation for most major artists, but Bentley wouldn’t have it any other way. Since the bus nicknamed “Goldie” has been carrying Bentley and his crew from show to show for 20 years now, it had to be the set for the video.

The footage of the recently released video was not the first footage that was captured. They initially filmed on a different bus while theirs was being repaired, but once Goldie was back up and running, the world felt right again. Throughout the video, each band member was able to show off their shining personality, keeping up with their usual antics.

“We had some rental bus and it felt so weird to be on there. We shot all that stuff on that bus and I was just so depressed. It was a short timeline to turn this thing around, so I was like, it’s just the way it’s gonna be. But I was like, this just feels so wrong. We were able to get Goldie back up on the road the next day and we reshot everything. Cause I was like, it just has to be on this bus. The song ‘Gold’ has to have some of like Goldie bus in it.”

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Dierks Bentley is currently on the road for his Beers On Me Tour, which he described as a “collaborative evening” with special guests Ashley McBryde and Travis Denning. But in just over a month, Bentley will be packing “good energy” and “good vibes” for his music festival, Seven Peaks.

This year, the festival will run from September 2-4 and will take place in the new location, Villa Grove, CO with performances by Bentley, Morgan Wallen, Tracy Lawrence, Ashely McBryde, HARDY and more.

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Bentley shared that he has already been incredibly hands-on with the behind-the-scenes planning, and once the festival opens, he expects to be just one of the fans, enjoying the weekend.

“I tell people, you’ll get used to seeing me a lot. I’m just around a lot. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.”

Tickets for Seven Peaks are on sale now.