Dozens of talents have contributed in some way to this project. Besides the five co-written by Dierks himself, the songs come from such varied sources as Bob Dylan, Buddy and Julie Miller, U2 and Kris Kristofferson. Te monumental Kristofferson is here as a guest vocalist as well, on his own song, along with a slate of today’s best traditional country singers, including Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Sonya Isaacs and


Chris Stapleton of the Steeldrivers. And then


there are the players,


recruited from the top echelons of bluegrass and acoustic music. Among them: Chris Tile and the Punch Brothers, the Del McCoury Band, the legendary Sam Bush, dobro player Rob Ickes, guitarist Bryan Sutton, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and mandolinist


Ronnie McCoury.


All this energy was corralled by producer Jon Randall Stewart, a singer/writer/picker whose track record in roots and country music Dierks admires as much as anyone. He and Stewart agreed they had to avoid the trap of making a cont r ived-fe eling “Dierks Bentley And Friends” album by creating groups and settings that would let everyone work at the top of their game. Tey matched songs with pickers and guest singers masterfully. Tey dreamed up a few crazy ideas and pulled them off. It was a genuine creative adventure


made possible only by the fact that Dierks established his credibility in bluegrass circles more than a decade ago. “Tis record’s not a departure for me at all,” says Dierks. “It’s really just going back and reclaiming something I feel like I do have some ownership of, which is the acoustic music scene in Nashville.” Long before his seven chart-topping singles, headlining arena tours, prestigious industry awards or even his record deal, he was a Nashville novice on the brink of discouragement, looking for something musically nourishing and a reason to keep pushing toward a career. And then, providentially, he visited the world famous Station Inn. Te humble cinder block building is the nerve center of Nashville’s unparalleled bluegrass scene, and when Dierks went there with a friend on Tuesday night in the late 90s and heard the Sidemen – the Station Inn’s weekly house band – playing hot and fast, it was a revelation.


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