Just weeks after earning his 18th career No. One, multi-Platinum singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley continues to reveal ambitious, complex sounds with lyrics reflective of his own personal journey over the last 18 months through the writing and the recording of his latest No. One album THE MOUNTAIN. With the release of “Living” to radio today, the “poignant” (Rolling Stone) track “offers up the album’s most easily likable vocal melody and some electric guitar crunch” (Paste) right on the heels of two back-to-back No. One hits from the record with “Woman, Amen” and “Burning Man.”
“The idea for this song started from being on the road and realizing how little ‘living’ we were actually doing out there,” said Bentley. “Whole days would go by where you never leave the bus and all you would see is the back parking lot of the arena. Going to Walgreens was a big deal! That is when the idea was born that there is a true difference between being alive and actually ‘living.’ This song is certainly about big moments in life and adventure…but it’s more about finding the beauty and that feeling in everyday moments. My goal for 2019 is to get outdoors and seek adventure whenever possible while also being fully present and living in even the ordinary moments…whether it be my son’s hockey practice and my girls’ theater performances or sitting around the table having dinner in catering with my band and crew.”
His introspective single “Living” not only serves as a standout on THE MOUNTAIN, but has also been dubbed as “a highlight of the show” (Country Aircheck) during his 2019 BURNING MAN TOUR, which will be on full display at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena this Friday (2/22). Critics alike agree as the track “provides lyrical content with depth beyond what’s normally on the charts” (Wide Open Country).
Pegged as “one of Country music’s most enviable brands, equal parts affability and authenticity” (Forbes), Bentley continues to be a dominant voice for the genre with over 8.6 billion overall digital streams. Reaching a new creative high while “making music designed to challenge” (New York Times), Bentley co-wrote 10 of his current album THE MOUNTAIN’s 13 tracks, which earned him the highest debut sales of his career and became his seventh chart-topping album. Known to deliver “the most thoughtful, complete collections in Country music” (USA Today) Bentley has amassed 18 career No. Ones, countless nominations from the ACMs, CMAs, Billboard Music Awards and more while also earning 14 GRAMMY nominations. Bentley will make notable stops throughout the country on his 2019 BURNING MAN TOUR with special guests Jon Pardi, Tenille Townes and the Hot Country Knights. For more information visit www.dierks.com.
Audio / Dierks Bentley talks about how he came up with the idea for his new song, "Living."
DownloadDierks Bentley (Living) 1 OC: …recognize that. :58
” ‘Living’ started from the road, actually, and just the lack of living that you sometimes can do on a tour bus, right? You sit in the bus all day long, then you go play the show, and you sit in the bus all day long and nobody’s doing any living. We kind of have this funny thing we started with the band where if someone went to Walgreen’s, it was a really big deal. ‘Wow, man, you went out and lived some life today. You actually went to Walgreen’s. Wow!’ The bar for living is so low as a musician on the road, so we really made it a personal challenge for me and the band to kind of like do more stuff during the day on the road. It’s just a big ole ‘Live Life’ on the road, and that’s where the idea for the song started. I brought it out to Colorado when I was doing that songwriting retreat with everybody, and I wrote it with three other guys, and I just feel like it kind of became the core of the album, this whole theme of like gratitude and living life and making the most of every day. It’s not about the moments that, it’s not about skydiving or bullriding. It’s about just, it could be just watching your kid play hockey and being focused on that and not watching your iphone. It could be just appreciating that it’s sunny outside and taking a moment to recognize that.”
