Dierks Bentley Put His Guitar Away ‘For a Year’ Prior to Making Upcoming Album
It's been more than four years since Dierks Bentley released his last studio album, The Mountain, and after the release of two non-album singles (2020's "Gone" and 2021's "Beers on Me"), the singer's next full-length project is well on its way.
Bentley shared information about the upcoming project with hosts Kelly Sutton and Amber Anderson on a recent episode of Amazon Music's Country Heat Weekly podcast. He confirmed the project is complete, and he hinted at a few details, including potential collaborations.
"The album is done," Bentley says. "I’m just kind of wrapping up some collaborations and some final mix stuff, but yeah. I don't think it's gonna come out for a while, but it's done, which is a weird thing to say because I've been working on it for three years."
Bentley did not share more information about the collaborations, but he did confirm that "Beers on Me" featuring Hardy and Breland will not be on this project. Neither will "Gone," both of which he calls "COVID holdover songs."
The album will feature 14 tracks.
News of Bentley's 10th studio album has been long-awaited by fans, and the wait was due, in part, to the singer's break from music in 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Bentley and his family moved to Telluride, Colo., and he stopped playing music for an entire year.
"I really put my guitar away in the case and put it in the closet for about a year," Bentley admits. "I didn't play any music for a year. If I pulled my guitar out, it was really just to play some bluegrass songs and just kind of sing along to myself in the kitchen or something."
"I really just spent a year outdoors; intense family time, hiking and biking and fishing and camping and living in this small town," he adds. "I was telling someone the other day, kind of like a farmer, you just can't hit the same field over and over and over again. You have to give it a chance to not grow anything for a little while so you can get some good dirt. I needed some experience, I needed to be away from the road and away from my guitar and just kind of away from the whole deal."
In 2021, the Bentley made his way back to Music City with a new appreciation for "all the great things Nashville has to offer," and his new single, "Gold," reflects that sentiment.
"The song's kind of about just being present in the moment you're in," he says. "The grass isn't always greener, although the mountains are a little taller in Colorado, but the grass isn't always greener."
"Gold" serves as the lead-off single of his yet-to-be-named new studio album.
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