Dierks Bentley Performs ‘Riser’ at 2015 ACM Awards [WATCH]

Dierks Bentley performed "Riser" at the 2015 ACM Awards. Taking an elevated stage solo, with his band in the background, he started singing acoustically, before the full band joined in.

"Riser" is the title track of his latest album.

“I think with all of my records, I’m always searching for new,” Bentley says of the record. “But I don’t want to lose all the work and time I’ve gone into developing a sound or a style. So there are songs on the record that kinda correlate back to themes I’ve had in the past — certainly the lonesome stuff is on there. I’d say ‘Bourbon in Kentucky’ is an example of that.”

Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Charlie Worsham and Jaren Johnston from the Cadillac Three all penned songs for the 12-track record, along with Bentley, who co-wrote six. But the Arizona native says that he doesn't think it's important to write all the songs for a project, as long as he knows the people who are doing the writing.

“It’s important to really know the writers and musicians you work with, to hang out with them and live in the same world,” he acknowledges. “I have such a romance with Nashville and this community. I drove across the country when I was 19 years old with a dream of just being invited to the party. It’s still wild to me that I get to work with and call so many incredibly talented people my friends.”

The singer tweeted a teaser of the performance earlier in the day. Bentley, who is nominated for seven ACM Awards tonight, already won for Video of the Year, for "Drunk on a Plane," also from his Riser album.

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