Dierks Bentley recently taped a new installment of CMT Crossroads One Republic where they shared vocals on each other’s songs. Dierks is a longtime fan of the band, and in fact, still considers their recent album one of his all-time favorites.

“People who know me know I’m a huge One Republic fan. I think their records are really great,” says Dierks. “I think Ryan’s a great writer, Ryan Tedder, and that Native album was like the album of 2013 for me. I mean it’s still in heavy rotation on my phone.”

The two acts met for the first time when they went in to rehearse for the show. They performed One Republic’s “Counting Stars” and “Good Life,” as well as Dierks’ current hit “I Hold On,” and his bluegrass offering “Up on the Ridge.”

The pairing happened in nearly record time. “It was just so weird for my manager to call me and say, ‘Do you want to do Crossroads with One Republic?’ I was like, ‘Yeah! Are you serious?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, but we have to do it quick because they’re going to Europe, so we’ve got about, we have to do it in about six days.’ And I was like, ‘Okay. [I’ve got to] start woodshedding.’”

CMT Crossroads featuring Dierks and One Republic will air on Friday (March 21st) at 10pm ET on CMT.

Dierks Bentley (CMT Crossroads) OC: …start woodshedding.” :54
“I love the CMT Crossroads concept. I think it’s amazing and there’s been amazing Crossroads, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of it, and John Hamlin and the CMT folks have always been pulling for me to do it, and asking me and throwing different artists at me and bands. There were a few that were really close, but ever felt like the right one, and I really wanted to hold out for just the right band. And then I just kind of forgot about pursuing it, you know? A couple of years go by and just hadn’t thought about doing it in a while, and in the meantime, I’m a huge, people who know me know I’m a huge One Republic fan. I think their records are really great. I think Ryan’s a great writer, Ryan Tedder, and that Native album was like the album of 2013 for me. I mean it’s still in heavy rotation on my phone. It was just so weird for my manager to call me and say, ‘Do you want to do Crossroads with One Republic?’ I was like, ‘Yeah! Are you serious?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, but we have to do it quick because they’re going to Europe, so we’ve got about, we have to do it in about six days.’ And I was like, ‘Okay. [I’ve got to] start woodshedding.’”