Dierks Bentley Plans Daily Polar Bear Plunge

Dierks Bentley dove straight into the new year with his annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Plunge into Nashville's Percy Priest Lake. The 'Up on the Ridge' singer, who welcomed his second daughter, Jordan, Christmas Day, stayed home and had a low-key New Year's Eve in preparation for the event.

"The tradition continued," Dierks told Sirius XM's The Highway. "It will be our 10th year next year: a milestone of stupidity. It was a little warmer this year, but it was still cold. My truck, Big White, I've had her for 15 years, this year she wanted to be involved. I backed my truck as far as I possibly could, just to the point where it was almost floating. We were doing cannon balls off the roof. We had a lot of fun out there this year. Lots of screaming as always. The pitch of everyone's voice seems to go up a few octaves."

The 'Plunge' is something Dierks has been doing since childhood, it's just the Polar Bear part that's new. "Growing up in Arizona there are lots of pools around, so I always wanted to have a house with a pool," Dierks digressed. "I think about all the money I'm putting into keeping this pool going through the winter, because the hot tub is connected to the pool, so you have to run the whole thing; you can't just drain it. Every month I have to write a check for $100 to keep this thing going, and no one is ever using it!"

But don't worry for Dierks' budget, as he's got a plan to use his pool in winter. "As a kid I used to wake up and walk into the pool," he remembers. "I was terrible at waking up; it's a good way to get going. So I've decided to get my money's worth and to help me wake up in the morning, I'm doing the polar plunge every morning. This morning it was 18 degrees, I walked out, jumped in the pool. It made me feel good about paying the bill, because I've actually used the pool this month. I'm going to do it every morning that I'm home."

With a newborn in the house, and the lack of sleep that comes with, Dierks will undoubtedly need that extra kick. "Christmas morning about 3:00 AM, our daughter, Jordan, was born," Dierks recalls. "It's unbelievable to have a kid on Christmas Day. I know for the kid it's probably like the worst birthday of all time. You probably won't ever even have a true birthday."

Dierks knows where to give credit when it's due, though. "My wife [Cassidy] is unbelievable," he says. "She's had two natural childbirths now. I am more involved than a regular father would be. She really leans on me throughout this process. The death grip that she has on my neck near the end of it, I really had to work out a lot to make sure I was in shape. [laughs] It's pretty intense, but that's the way she chooses do it. Me, personally, I'd ask for the biggest epidural and a seven-day vacation in Hawaii directly afterwards."

Dierks will head out on the road soon with Josh Thompson for the Jagermeister Tour. Dates and cities have yet to be announced.