Dierks Bentley has developed a real love for Telluride, Colorado. He first went out to the majestic location for a Bluegrass Music Festival several years ago. Then, he vacationed out there, and subsequently brought out several songwriter friends for a writers retreat. Inspired by the location, the mountains and the serenity, they wrote songs that would make up his 2018 album, The Mountain. He also recorded the album in Telluride, which is also the place he has held his own music festival a couple of times.

So, when the pandemic hit the U.S. and he and his family had to quarantine, they were already hanging out in Telluride, and so he and his wife made the decision to stay right there, especially since his three children were already remote learning.

“I’ve been out there in Colorado, we went out there in March, I guess it was, for a family trip and then COVID hit and we never left. I kind of used it as an opportunity to sneak out there and then we just stayed,” says Dierks. “I was worried about the fall and schools and being in person and being in big cities, and there’s a little school out there they can go to, so they’re doing that. So, it’s allowed me – if I’m gonna be unemployed and if I’m gonna have this time,  I just wanna be somewhere where I can make up for lost time on the road as far as like mountains and rivers and hiking and biking and family time and riding bikes with my kids to school and so much to do with them and outdoors all the time, which I kind of needed after this many years on the bus and on the road. So, I’m trying to stay inspired and knowing when it does go green again, I’ll probably be gone a lot, trying to make up for the deficit of these last few years…of this last year.”

Dierks is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Gone.”