Dierks Bentley has five nominations going into this year’s CMA Awards, including Male Vocalist, Album for Riser, Song for “I Hold On,” which Dierks wrote with Brett James and Single and Music Video of the Year for “Drunk on a Plane.”

Dierks Bentley (CMA 2014) OC: …recognized for it. :31
“I’m so grateful to all of the country fans out there, and all my friends in country radio too. It’s just been an incredible summer. What a great ride this album Riser’s been for me, and this summer’s been so much fun and to have everything be capped off with these five CMA nominations is just, it’s really been a perfect year. I’m just incredible grateful for the support overall, over all my records and all my singles and songs, but in particular this album, because I think that my fans know this is a really special record for me, so it really is nice to be recognized for it.”

Dierks Bentley (I Hold On) 1 OC: …at the end. :33
“This is so me. It’s so personal, yet it’s so universal at the same time. These verses are snippets of my life and just things of my life, and it’s kind of a song about self-discovery too. Who am I after all these years?  What’s important to me? Why do I do certain things that I do? Why do I hold on to certain things I hold onto? It’s a little bit of me trying to figure out who I am, and then in the choruses, it’s just who we are as Americans, as a people, as human beings I guess, you know there’s things that we really value and hold onto tight – faith, love and freedom. In a way, it’s kind of a love song too, you know, coming back and wrapping up at the end.”

Dierks Bentley (a great year) OC: …a great time. 1:11
“It’s been a crazy year. [I’ve] been doing this a long time, and I’ve watched a lot of friends have this kind of moment, this kind of year where everything’s come together, so I’ve seen it happen a lot. I guess it’s happening for me right now with ‘I Hold On’ and ‘Drunk on a Plane’ and just I really appreciate it now more than ever. But more than anything else, it’s just really been fun. I feel like I’m really present in the moment and I just really enjoyed the hell out of this summer. The shows we’ve been playing, the size of the venues we’ve been playing, getting a chance to headline all of these venues that I’ve opened up for other acts in…having ‘Drunk on a Plane’ being one of those songs of the summer kind of thing; and the CMA nominations on top of all that? Just kind of having one of those years, and I don’t know how long it’ll last or any of that stuff, but I hate to overuse the word, but it’s just been a really great summer and great year, and just loving the hell out of it. All the pieces are there. My band, all of the guys in my band, everyone in my crew, all the right people there, my home life my family. Everything is just happening at the exact perfect moment. The CMA nominations on top of that is pretty cool, so I’m really grateful, but in the end, even more than grateful, I’m just having a great time.”