Dierks Bentley’s Teen Troubles Led to Country Success

Dierks Bentley kicked off his two-month Jagmeister tour last week, and has very specific -- and noisy -- hopes for his fans.

"I want them to scream and yell," he tells The Press of Atlantic City. "I want it to be the most fun time of the year for the fans who come to these shows. When you're sponsored by Jagermeister, you might as well throw it all out there."

The Arizona native made a stop in Atlantic City last weekend to play for a packed crowd at the famous House of Blues. The show, Dierks acknowledges, was like coming full circle. "I grew up in Phoenix, and lived there for the first 14 years of my life," he reveals. "I had troubles in my younger adolescence, and my parents decided to send me away to boarding school."

That boarding school, which happened to be in New Jersey, is part of what inspired his fortuitous move to Nashville, where his award-winning career began. "If I hadn't gone [to boarding school], I would never have discovered country music," he notes. "I made some great friends -- and had a love of Jersey girls -- but country reminded me of home and Arizona."

Dierks hit Music City at the age of 19, when Garth Brooks was all over the airwaves. In spite of a shared love of country music, he never hoped to follow in the superstar's footsteps. "I wasn't in love with the music coming out at the time," he admits. "Everyone was trying to be Garth Brooks. I love Garth Brooks, but it wasn't my thing to wear a cowboy hat."

Instead, Dierks worked at forging his own career path, which resulted in two platinum albums and 12 Top 10 singles. His trail-blazing music also resulted in a bit of discouragement as well. "I'd been on the road for about six years," he recalls. "I realized I was losing creativity. I wanted to make a heavily bluegrass, country music record."

It was a gamble that paid off. He recorded 'Up On the Ridge' last year, which is nominated for an ACM Award for Album of the Year, and was The Boot's Top Country Album of 2010. More than the accolades, it resulted in personal fulfillment as well. "I was stepping away from the game a bit," he says. "I made a record I poured my heart into."

Now he's switching gears again, and releasing another album that is a bit more mainstream. "I spent the last five months working on a record coming out in August," Dierks reveals. "It's electric country, with a lot of bass and drums. The first song is a big party song. It's called 'Am I the Only One?' and it's a song about trying to drag your buddies out to have a good time."

The song is already undoubtedly a hit in his live show. Dierks has concerts this weekend in New York and Pennsylvania, where he will be joined by opening acts Josh Thompson and Miss Willie Brown. He will also head to Las Vegas April 3 to perform for the ACM Awards. See his tour schedule here.