Dierks Bentley, Pam Tillis, Jim Lauderdale to Host WSM Radio Shows

Dierks Bentley moves from the concert stage to the role of deejay! The singer joins Grand Ole Opry member Pam Tillis and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale as the host of his very own radio show on Nashville's legendary WSM 650 AM. Dierks will host 'The Thread,' on Mondays beginning March 15. On Tuesdays, starting March 16, Pam hosts 'Lettin' My Roots Show,' and 'The Jim Lauderdale Show' airs on Wednesdays, beginning March 17. Several artists, including Diamond Rio's Dana Williams and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show will handle hosting duties on Thursdays, starting March 18. All of the shows will air at 2:00 PM CT and will also be available as podcasts on iTunes. They can also be heard online at wsmonline.com.

Dierks' music has been influenced by an array of styles, so naturally his guest spot will showcase handpicked music from bluegrass artists, country legends and his contemporaries. In-studio guests and listener requests will round out the hour each week.

"Putting this radio show together is the most fun I've had in a long time," says Dierks. "I named it 'The Thread' because it's my chance to go back to all the music that influenced me. It's the artists and songs that tie it all together as a genre. I get to pick the music, tell stories and do just about whatever I want with that hour ... It's anything goes!"

Dierks has always been proud of his country-music calling. It's what led him to Vanderbilt University to seek his destiny.

"I knew I needed to be in Nashville," Dierks tells The Boot. "I didn't get very good grades at Vanderbilt but I knew I had to be present to win, so that's where I went."

As a teenager, Dierks first saw the 1989 video of Hank Williams Jr. singing a duet of '(There's a) Tear in My Beer' with his dad, Hank Williams. Seeing that performance on video proved a life-changing experience for Dierks. "The whole story was told in about three minutes; it was sad, it was fun, it made me crack up the whole time. Hank [Jr.] was just being himself and tearing it up. That's what really got me into country music."

WSM 650 AM has been on the air since October 5, 1925 and began broadcasting the Grand Ole Opry just one month later.