Dierks Bentley Offers Pre-Tour Preview

Dierks Bentley has spent the past three weeks in a sweltering Nashville rehearsal hall crafting and perfecting the details of his upcoming headlining Riser Tour.

I ain’t afraid of working to the bone, a line from his Riser project’s title track, is an apt description of Bentley, who is still clearly enamored with his craft of music and performance after more than 10 years and eight albums for Capitol Nashville.

“I’ve always been one of the guys that designs sets on cocktail napkins on the back of the bus,” Bentley explained. “When we first started off, we were just figuring out how we were going to build a stage and … a lot of amplifiers have been a big part of our production … and our look. The older you get and the more you get the chance to do this, the less you take for granted and you never know what tomorrow will bring. I told everyone, ‘Let’s just go big. Let’s put together a show like it was the last show we’re ever going to do, like this was the last tour.’” The very hands-on entertainer even tweeted a photo of himself on a forklift earlier in the day.

The relentless heat inside the rehearsal hall didn’t faze Bentley, who has been running through his entire tour set multiple times throughout the day. “You should see the 4 p.m. showing. It’s even hotter in here,” he quipped. In fact, Bentley explained the heat will prepare him for his upcoming run of outdoor amphitheater shows.

Riser has already spawned one chart-topping single, “I Hold On.” Friday night (May 9) will see the launch of the Riser Tour in Charlotte, N.C. Bentley will bring Chris Young, Chase Rice and Jon Pardi along for the trek.

Bentley offered Nashville media an early look at the new show’s production. The stage was drenched in red, white and blue light as the band strummed the first strains of “5-1-5-0.” Though his audience was a small crowd of crew and media, Bentley performed as though a full amphitheater crowd filled the room, entertaining from within the marked off sections of warehouse floor as if it were a real stage. Behind him, a massive lighting rig and video screen blazed with luminosity and sound, adding a swirl of intensity that heightened Bentley’s already energetic performance.

From there, Bentley sailed through more hits, including “Tip It On Back.” His humorous new single “Drunk On A Plane” received an even more hilarious video treatment, while he tested his between-song conversation on the industry crowd during “I Hold On.”

“This song is about things I believe in, and Country music is at the top of that list,” he said. Fitting words from a bonafide riser, fighter, survivor who has spent the past decade carving his own musical path in the Country music landscape.