Another internet find and of a style totally different from the previous one – gotta love the internet – is the country singer Dierks Bentley. Now, this guy is the first American country male singer that I like! Honestly! All the male country singers whose songs I have are Canadian! I came close to liking Billy Ray Cyrus a few years ago but he got too corny for me. I like a couple of American country bands like Blackhawk & Diamond Rio and a few songs of Alabama, but no solo singers. Till now! Born, 1975, in Phoenix, Arizona, he moved to that mecca of the twang, Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 19. He worked in Television for a while and only released his debut album, Don’t Leave Me In Love in 2001, on an independent label. In 2003 his self-title big label debut , features his to no#1 hit on the country charts, What Was I thinking. He has released an album in 2006 called Long Trip Alone, which is equally successful, but the one I have with me is his 2005 US Billboard #6 album, Modern Day Drifter.

The album features two US Country #1 hits, Settle For a Slow Down & Come A Little Closer. You get honky tonk, little twang and song nice tunes in the album. In the title track, we see a picture of a man who goes where he wants, when he wants. In Cab of My Truck, he talks about how it may not be much to look at, but he’s got everything he needs right there inside. In Settle for a Slowdown, his girl has left him and he’s watching her go, just hoping that if she won’t stop and turn around, she’ll at least step on the brakes and slow down. In Come a Little Closer, he wants to make everything right again, saying “there ain’t nothin’ that love can’t fix.” In Good Things Happen, he talks about how everything else may not be going right, but as long as he has his girl by his side, “good things happen.” In the final track, Gonna Get There Someday, he talks about how he’s on the verge of a commitment, but not quite there yet, but feels he’ll get there someday. And as the song progresses, you realize he’s speaking this at his mother’s grave. Show stopper So So Long is a barn dance number about showing the door to a cheating woman.
Overall a really good album that you can enjoy over a beer or two.