Dierks Bentley has been a staple at country radio for more than a decade now, so it may shock you to learn he’s just now stepped into the role of headlining his own major tour this year. While he’s co-headlined a trek with Miranda Lambert, Dierks is now playing to the biggest audiences of his career on the Riser Tour. This career development is something of a mystery for Dierks.
“I don’t know how the hell I’m here, really, but something’s happening,” Dierks tells Billboard. “Ten years into my career, I’m headlining these places, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, man. It’s been a great climb. A slow climb.”
That climb got a big boost from Dierks’ runaway summer hit, “Drunk on a Plane.” It’s such a highlight of his set, Dierks keeps pushing it back to later in the show. He says, “It started off like fourth in the set list, then we moved it down to about sixth, then eighth, and now it’s down pretty far towards the bottom. It could be the bottom if I wanted it to be, it’s that big of a song.”
Dierks on the road with the Riser tour into the fall.
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