Dierks Bentley recently taped a new installment of CMT Crossroads One Republic where they traded vocals on each other’s songs, including Dierks’ current hit single, “I Hold On,” and the band’s huge hit “Counting Stars.”

Dierks says he really enjoyed – and misses — the intense studying sessions (which he calls “woodshedding”) a few days prior to filming the show. “You’re digging into someone’s music. It’s one thing to sing it all the time in the gym, working out, but it’s another thing to get down, looking at the lyrics, really studying the music and studying Ryan [Tedder]’s voice and realizing how high he truly sings, you know, like how are we gonna make this work,” says Dierks. “Our two voices are so different. He’s singing up in the rafters, and I’m down here. Is it gonna work? How will it work? Just trying to figure out who’s gonna sing what and splitting the songs up and then thinking about music, and how can we add banjo and fiddle to ‘Counting Stars?’ And how can his guys, he’s got a cello player, can he play on ‘Home?’ You know, just mixing up the music. It was just a week-long of massive musical studying, and now it’s over and it’s like a big, ‘Aw, I miss that.’”

The Phoenix native hopes to work with One Republic again soon. Well, maybe “work” is not the right word to use in this case. “We’d have so much fun on tour. I’ve tried to plant that seed,” says Dierks. “They get a chance to tour in Europe a lot, so I was like, ‘Hey take us to Germany. Let’s go to all the great pubs of Europe tour.’” [laughs]

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

Dierks Bentley (CMT Crossroads) 2 OC: …that project. :54
“I kinda miss it because it reminds me of when I studied to get my instrument rating for my private pilot’s exam. It’s just all the book work going into it. I love that, and that’s the same way it feels like with this. You’re digging into someone’s music. It’s one thing to sing it all the time in the gym, working out, but it’s another thing to get down, looking at the lyrics, really studying the music and studying Ryan [Tedder]’s voice and realizing how high he truly sings, you know, like how are we gonna make this work? Our two voices are so different. He’s singing up in the rafters, and I’m down here. Is it gonna work? How will it work? Just trying to figure out who’s gonna sing what and splitting the songs up and then thinking about music, and how can we add banjo and fiddle to ‘Counting Stars?’ And how can his guys, he’s got a cello player, can he play on ‘Home?’ You know, just mixing up the music. It was just a week-long of massive musical studying, and now it’s over and it’s like a big, ‘Aw, I miss that.’ It was really fun working on that project.”

Dierks Bentley (CMT Crossroads) 3 OC: …of Europe tour. [laughs] :21
“It was so fun, man. I have so much, it’s so cool to actually meet a guy and have him be as cool as how you hoped he’d be and the band One Republic just great dudes. I mean, we’d have so much fun on tour. I’ve tried to plant that seed. They get a chance to tour in Europe a lot, so I was like, ‘Hey take us to Germany. Let’s go to all the great pubs of Europe tour.’” [laughs]