Bentley goes back to ‘Black’
Country star Dierks Bentley hit a few road bumps on his way to the top. But nearly 15 years after releasing his platinum-selling self-titled debut album, the 41-year-old “What the Hell Did I Say” singer is playing his biggest shows to date. Joined by Cole Swindell, Jon Pardi and an incognito bluegrass act, Bentley performs Sunday, Aug. 20, at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View as part of LiveNation’s Country Megaticket concert series. He’s touring in support of his eighth studio album, “Black,” which follows the highs and lows of a long-term relationship.
Q: Has your wife forgiven you for making “Black” yet? A: Oh, man, I don’t know. I think I remember she told me, “I hope this isn’t about me — there are no love songs on here!” Love songs, to me, just aren’t that interesting. There’s no grit in that. I hate to be overly real about love and marriage and life, but that’s country music. It should dive into how things are on the inside, not just how they appear on the outside. Q: You had a very public midlife crisis around the time you made 2010’s bluegrass album, “Up on the Ridge” — what did it feel like to have your fans watch you go through it? A: I can’t really talk about that period of my life enough. It was really important personally and professionally. It wasn’t mapped out at all. It wasn’t strategic. It was me reaching the end of the road. It took three years of hard touring and beating my head against the wall to realize this wasn’t working. I made the decision to make a bluegrass record because I felt like I just needed to be creative and get back to the core sound that got me interested in even being a country singer. I heard people say I was crazy and that I threw my career away. My career felt like it already came and went. There was nothing left to throw away. Q: And here you are now, on your biggest headlining tour yet. Having toured with Kenny Chesney, you got a taste of what it’s like to play in front of massive audiences — is it different now that they’re there for you? A: Yeah, I learned a lot from Kenny. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but headlining Shoreline — this is only our fourth time doing it. We still get excited. There’s times when we’re out there and I see the people and the semis and I think, “Is Kenny here today? What the hell is going on?” Q: You have had a mystery bluegrass band opening most of the shows on this tour. Will they be in California? A: It’s a different band every night — different name, at least, but the guys always look very similar to the guys in my band. I would not go on record saying they’re the same people. Look for the lead guitar player, his name is Dirty Doug, who looks a little like me. He’s got a strong mullet.
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF