Dierks Bentley has been tapped by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry as her nominee to fill the latest vacancy on the Nashville Airport Authority’s board of directors.
“I am honored for the opportunity to serve on the Airport Authority board,” Dierks says. “I love Nashville and I love aviation. There are many big changes happening in our city right now as it continues to grow so rapidly. I am very excited to get a chance to be involved in facilitating and managing that growth as it pertains to our airports and aviation services.”
The Metro Council will vote on the volunteer appointment of the country music pilot next month.
He started flying planes for the love of it, but then once he got married and became a father, it made a lot of sense to fly to and from tour dates. “I fly so much on Southwest and trying to cut that first day off, so ‘kids’ is really the reason I started flying. It’s just to get more time with my kids. You get an extra 12 hours basically, which is a long time when you’ve got three kids. I mean, that’s a whole other night to put ‘em to bed, a whole other morning to make breakfast and do school, and then you come into the gig fresh and you get a chance to fly, which I enjoy doing,” says Dierks. “So, it’s like 100% pleasure, but it’s also 100% work. I realized I can’t really afford to sit in the back of a private jet, but I could afford to learn how to fly and sit in the front left seat of a little prop plane and buzz around that way. So, it works out pretty good.”
He calls his plane “The Time Machine,” because it literally buys him time to spend with his family, which includes his beautiful wife Cassidy and his three children – Evie (rhymes with Chevy), Jordan and Knox.
-Dierks is currently sitting inside the Top 10 on the country charts with “Black,” the title track from his latest album.
-Dierks is headlining his What the Hell Tour, featuring Jon Pardi and Cole Swindell, and they make a stop in Rapid City, South Dakota on Sunday (April 23rd). The Arizona native is also set to perform during Stagecoach, which takes place April 28th in Indio, California.
Audio / Dierks Bentley explains some of the reasons why he flies to his tour dates.
DownloadDierks Bentley (flying) OC: …pretty good. :55
“I started flying back in 1994, so I guess I was just always into it. Just because of time and money, it took a while to get my license. I got it in ’97, and then I had no more reason to and really money to do anything with it, so I set it aside and didn’t pick I t up until 15 years later when in 2011, I was trying to find a way to, I fly so much on Southwest and trying to cut that first day off. So, kids is really the reason I started flying. It’s just to get more time with my kids. You get an extra 12 hours basically, which is a long time when you’ve got three kids. I mean, that’s a whole other night to put ‘em to bed, a whole other morning to make breakfast and do school, and then you come into the gig fresh and you get a chance to fly, which I enjoy doing. So, it’s like 100% pleasure, but it’s also 100% work. I realized I can’t really afford to sit in the back of a private jet, but I could afford to learn how to fly and sit in the front left seat of a little prop plane and buzz around that way. So, it works out pretty good.”
